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OFFICIAL ORGAN, NATIONAL CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION 
15 CENTS A COPY ESTABLISHED 1868. $1.50 A YEAR 



a 



VOL. LIV. No. 1 



CHICAGO. 



May, 1921 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 

Published Monthly by the National Christian 
Association. 



WM. I. PHILLIPS 

850 West Madison Street, Chicago. 

Managing Editor. 



TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION 

PRICE— Per year, in advance, $1.50; three 
months, on trial, thirty-five cents; single 
copies, fifteen cents. 

PRESENTATION COPIES— Many persons sub- 
scribe for the Christian Cynosure to be sent 
to FRIENDS. In such cases, if we are advised 
that a subscription is a present and not regu- 
larly authorized by the recipient, we wl 
make a memorandum to discontinue at ex- 
piration, and to send no bill for the ensuing 
year. 

BUSINESS LETTERS should be addressed to 
Wm. I. Phillips, Gen. Secy., at the above ad- 
dress. 

Entered as Second-class matter May 19, 1897, 
Ht the Poit Office at Chicago, 111., under Act of 
Mara'a 3, 1873. 



CONTENTS 



Young in Heart Cover 

Annual Meeting . 3 

Expenditure Seems Too Large 3 

Knights and Ladies of Security 3 

About the Grange 4 

''Job's Daughters." — Sunday World-Herald 

of Omaha ' 4 

The Order of De Molay 4 

The Degree of Honor 5 

Scandinavian-American Fraternity, by B. 

M. Holt G 

Plans to Bar K. K. K.—The World 7 

A Seeder's Testimony, by Evangelist A. 

J. Mueller '. ' 9 

Independent Order of Odd-Fellows, by G. 

H. flospers '10 



Bible Institutes and Theological Semina- 
ries, by Dr. James M. Gray 13 

Masonic Theology — Comments by Rev. 
K. J. Machines 17 

The Ku Klux Klan 18 

The Question of the Flour, by E. E. Flagg. 19 

Your Bawling Out. — Editorial in The 
Kabclgram 20 

God — from Editorial in The Kabelgram. . 26 

News of Our Work : 

Eastern Secretary's Report, by W. B. 
Stoddard 26 

"Lizzie Woods' Letter," by Mrs. L. W. 
Roberson 27 

Letters from Our Friends 28 

Report on Secret Societies, N. C. Con- 
ference of W r esleyan Methodists 31 



NATIONAL CHRISTIAN ASSOCIA- 
TION. 



President, Rev. John F. Heemstra ; 
Vice-President, Rev. Wm. B. Rose, 

Recording Secretary, Mrs. N. E. Kel- 
logg; Secretary-Treasurer, Wm. I. 
Phillips. 



BOARD OF DIRECTORS. 

Walter Wietzke, A. W. Safford, G. W. 
Hylkema, Wm. P. Ferries, J. R. Shaf- 
fer, G. W. Bond, M. P. F. Doermann, 
A. H. Leaman, C. A. Blanchard, George 
Slager and Thos. C. McKnight. 

LECTURERS. 

Those desiring lectures or addresses 
may write to any of the speakers named 
below : 

Rev. W. B. Stoddard, Box 94, East 
Falls Church, Virginia 

Rev. Adam Murrman, Arena, Wis. 

Rev. F. J. Davidson, 927 St. Maurice 
Ave., New Orleans, La. 

Mrs. Lizzie W. Roberson, 311 W. 2^th 
St., Argenta, Ark. 

Pres. C. A. Blanchard, Wheaton, 111 



There is none 
other Name 
under heaven, 
given among 
men, whereby 
we must be 
saved. 

— Acts 4:12 



CHRISTIAN 

CYNOSURE 



Jesus answered 


him: I 


spake 


openly 


to the 


world, 


and in 


secret 


have I 


said nothing. 


—Joh 


n 18:20 



ANNUAL MEETING. 
Wednesday, June 1, 1921. 
The annual meeting of the National 
Christian Association will occur on 
Wednesday, June 1, 1921, at 10 o'clock 
a. m. in the Third Christian Reformed 
Church, 109th Place and Perry Avenue, 
Chicago, for the election of officers and 
the transaction of other important busi- 
ness. 

John F. Heemstra, 

President. 
Nora E. Kellogg, 

Rec. Sec. 



Please write to Secretary W. I. Phil- 
lips if it seems to you probable that you 
can attend the Annual Meeting, June 
ist, next. 

Can you not visit your headquarters 
here in the Carpenter Building, at 850 
West Madison St., the day before the 
Annual Meeting? We hope you can d? 
so and shall be glad to welcome you and 
to be of service to you if possible. 

The place of meeting, Third Christian 
Reformed, is reached by taking a State 
Street car, going south, marked uptJi 
and Morgan Avenue. Get off at 110th 
Street, walk two blocks east and a half 
block north to the church on 109th 
Place and Perry Avenue. Better make 
a memorandum of this now and take it 
with you. 



EXPENDITURE SEEMS TOO LARGE. 
Since the armistice our government 
has spent largely for war costs almost 
$1,000 for every family in the United 
States. More than four billion dollars 
have been appropriated for this year. ( H 
this amount 68 per cent pays the ex- 
penses of past wars. 20 per cent ($3oo,- 
000,000) prepares for future wars, and 
12 per cent remains for constructive 
work. 



General, Pershing said in New York 

December 29, 1920: 

"The world docs not seem to learn from ex- 
perience. It would appear that the lessons of 
the last six years should be enough to con- 
vince everybody of the danger of nations 
striding up and down the earth armed to the 
teeth." 

Republican Floor Leader Mondell re- 
cently told the Committee on Naval Af- 
fairs : 

"If an agreement is not reached for the 
limitation of armaments and warlike expendi- 
tures, in the near future the fault will be that 
of America, as in former days the fault was 
that of Germany." 

Says Herbert Hoover : 

"There is no more inconceivable folly than 
this continued riot of expenditure on battle- 
ships at a time when great masses of humanity 
are dying of starvation." 



KNIGHTS AND LADIES OF 
SECURITY. 

A correspondent inquires whether or 
not the Knights and Ladies of Security 
is a secret society. 

The order named above is one ot the 
many modern fraternal secret societies. 
It was chartered under the law- of the 
state of Kansas February 22. 1892, with 
its headquarters at Topeka, 1>\ members 
of the Masonic fraternity and members 
of some of the other secret orders. It 
makes much of it- social privileges. It 
is also stated that "the ritual and cere- 
monial <>f the ( )rder are instructive and 
attractive, being well calculated to im- 
press upon the mind o\ the novitiate the 
importance of wisdom, security, protec- 
tion and fraternity." 

We wrote to the National Council of 
the Order at Topeka. Kansas, for such 
literature as it i> proper in their estima- 
tion for the public to have. We wrote 
for a copy ^i its Constitution and 
official organ and of it- burial services. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



May, 1921. 



The National Secretary replied that if 
we were a member of the Society we 
could receive a copy of the Constitution 
and of the other matters which we asked 
for but not otherwise. One can judge 
how secret it is when its National Secre- 
tary refuses information which is not a 
part of its secret ritual or ceremonies. 



ABOUT THE GRANGE. 

Membership in the National Grange 
stands at approximately 750,000, S. J. 
Lowell of Fredonia, N. Y., Master of 
the Grange, reports. 

"The first Grange was organized on 
April 15, 186S, in Fredonia, N. Y. It is 
a secret order, similar to all secret orders 
in many respects, with a ritual surpassed 
by none. 

"It is non-sectarian and non-political 
and is devoted wholly to agriculture and 
agricultural pursuits. 

"The Grange is now organized in 33 
states, which are chiefly in the north, as 
many of the southern states have no 
Granges. The largest Grange state is 
New Y^ork, which has a membership of 
128,000." 



"JOB'S DAUGHTERS." 

As the originator of "Job's Daugh- 
ters," a society for girls, under general 
management of the Masonic order, Mrs. 
W. H. Mick, of this city, has started a 
movement that promises to be far-reach- 
ing in its growth. Already 2,500 peti- 
tions have been received from Eastern 
Star and Masonic leaders over the coun- 
try, asking for proper blanks and instruc- 
tion for organizing Bethels, comprising 
girls from 13 to 18 years of age. 
Headquarters. 

Omaha is to be the home office or na- 
tional headquarters for this society, 
Bethel No. 1, Job's Daughters, Omaha, 
will forever remain the original chapter. 

Mrs. Mick first conceived this idea, 
providing a society for girls similar to 
De Molay for boys, more than three 
years ago. It was only last December, 
however, in conjunction with Le Roy T. 
Wilcox, an authority on Masonic law, 
that Mrs. Mick began seriously to draft 
the ritual, by-laws, and other necessary 
business details for a great organization. 

Mrs. Mick, who is worthy matron of 
Ak-Sar-Ben chapter, Order of Eastern 



Star, plans to hold one initiatory service 
before the Nebraska Grand chapter of 
Eastern Star convenes on May 11. Local- 
leaders in Masonic and Eastern Star cir- 
cles who are assisting to launch the so- 
ciety of "Job's Daughters," include Dr. 
Zoro D. Clark, prominent in work of the 
De Molay; Miss Rose M. Owens, Le 
Roy T. Wilcox, and Mrs. Edna Craw- 
ford. 

Objects. 
The purposes of the new society are 
to add to the spiritual and moral growth 
of members, to develop love of country, 
home and family, and reverence for God 
and teachings of holy scripture. 

Ritual. 

The ritual is founded on the story of 
Job in the Bible. The work will comprise 
the Supreme Guardian council, of which 
Mrs. Mick is the head; an executive 
Guardian council ; grand councils for each 
state, and the local chapter, in this case, 
designated "Bethel," which requires at 
least twenty for organization. Officers 
of a Bethel will be "Honored Queen," a 
senior princess, junior princess, secretary, 
treasurer, guide, chaplain, marshal, or- 
ganist, and inner guard. 

Members of Job's Daughters, on at- 
taining 18 years of age, become honorary 
members for life. — Sunday World-Her- 
ald, Omaha, April 10, 1921. 



THE ORDER OF DE MOLAY. 

The Order of De Molay is also called 
a chapter. It came into being in Kansas 
City, Missouri, on April 1, 1919. 

Scottish Rite Masons founded the or- 
der and are more active in its promotion 
and development than other Masons, 
though we do not understand that Ma- 
sons of any degree may not become active 
in its interest since Master Masons may 
attend any and all of its meetings. 

Frank Marshall, associate editor of the 
Kansas City Journal, wrote the ritual 
and the first degrees were conferred on 
April 1, 1919. The local Chapter at 
Kansas City, Missouri, has now 3,000 
De Molay boys. 

The order is distinctly for boys be- 
tween the age of 16 and 21. 

The order is not essentially Masonic, 
that is to say, the "candidate" does not 
necessarily have to be the son of a Ma- 



May, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



5 



son. His qualifications must be "a boy 
of good moral standing." This seems to 
be consistent, for, if only sons of Ma- 
sons could be Masons, then the Masonic 
institution zvould indeed be restricted. 

The order is said to be growing "like 
wild-fire" and that petitions pour into 
Chapters wherever organized. "It par- 
ticularly appeals to boys of the eligible 
age, because it is a boys' lodge and be- 
cause there is scarcely any boy who does 
not wish that he could belong to a lodge." 



THE DEGREE OF HONOR. 

The Degree of Honor Protective As- 
sociation. The name sounds harmless. 
But is the Association as harmless as its 
name would indicate? Let us see. The 
Association has been quite active in the 
past year. Let us investigate thoroughly.. 
I shall use two sources of information : 
First, statements given in writing to the 
undersigned by Mrs. Lois A. Geiser, 
Grand President of the Minnesota De- 
gree of Honor ; secondly, the Bible. The 
statements by Mrs. Geiser were given on 
Jan. 20, 1921, and on Feb. 20, 1921. 
What Is the Degree of Honor? 
It is a national fraternal life insurance 
society ; in plain English, an insurance 
lodge. It was organized in 1896 and has 
organizations in every state of the Union 
and in Canada. In Minnesota alone the 
lodge numbers 18,000 members. The 
chief object of the society is to offer its 
members life insurance at cost. The 
business of the lodge is conducted en- 
tirely by women. "Talitha Cum'i' is the 
motto of the lodge. 

Has the Degree of Honor Religion? 
It has. Says Mrs. Lois A. Geiser : 
"The meetings of the Degree of Honor 
are opened with prayer. The Bible is 
open on an altar in the center of the 
room. We pledge our loyalty by the Bi- 
ble. The prayers of the D. of H. are 
direct to 'Our Father in Heaven,' 'Al- 
mighty God,' 'Our Heavenly Father.' 
We have no prayer book, * * * but 
this is the form of prayer usually used : 
'Our Heavenly Father, we pray that Thy 
blessing may rest upon us as we are here 
assembled. May this meeting be for 
thine honor and for the good of human- 
ity, and may we each keep in mind our 
cherished watchwords : Constancy, Hon- 



or, and Purity. Remember in mercy our 
loved ones who are absent and keep us 
all under Thy guidance and protection 
forever". Amen !' " 

Note, the name of Jesus is not men- 
tioned in these prayers. U this omis- 
sion merely accidental? Those familiar 
with lodge practice will say: The name 
of Jesus is left out 011 purpose. Those 
who do not believe in Jesus would be 
offended if the prayers of the lodge were 
directed to Him. 

Now let us turn the searchlight of 
God's Word on this omission of the name 
Jesus. Acts 4:12 we read: "Neither is 
there salvation in- any other, for there is 
none other name under heaven given 
among men, whereby we must be saved." 
Philippians 2:10, 11 the Apostle Paul 
writes : "At the name of Jesus every 
knee should bow. * * * Every tongue 
should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, 
to the glory of God the Father." Inso- 
far as the D. of H. avoids the name of 
Jesus it prays to an idol. The knee that 
does not bow to Jesus Christ bows to an 
idol, call that idol whatever you may. 
even if you call it "Our heavenly Father." 
Mrs. Lois A. Geiser continues: "We 
are Christian in our teachings without 
being sectarian, and have as our funda- 
mental principle the Golden Rule." What 
is the essence of Christianity? What has 
Christianity that heathen systems of reli- 
gion have not? Is it the Golden Rule? 
No. It is a Redeemer, who laid down 
His life in order to remove the guilt 
from man's back. Faith in this Redeem- 
er, faith in the Blood of God's Son. that 
is the essence of Christianity. Only he 
is a Christian who believes that the Blood 
of Jesus Christ. God's Son. makes us 
clean from all our sins, lie wln» seeks 
forgiveness in his work-, in "his doing 
unto others," is essentially a heathen. 
Galatians 5:4 compel- us 10 make this 
statement. We read : "Christ is become 
of no effect unto yon. whosoever of yon 
are justified by the law; ye are fallen 
from grace." A Christian di 
works. His good works are a product 
oi His faith in the Redeemer even a- an 
apple is the product oi the tree. 

Mrs. Lois A. Geiser makes a further 
statement in regard 10 the religion oi 
Degree of Honor. She says: "No re- 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



May, 1921. 



ligious test is demanded of an applicant. 
* * A woman must be of good 
moral character in order to become a 
member. / think you wont find many 
such who do not believe in Jesus CJirist:' 
A little further on in her letter she 
writes : "All members are on the same 
footing whether Protestant or Catholic ; 
no preference is given to Catholics. I 
should judge our membership is abouY 
three-quarters Protestant, and one-quar- 
ter Catholic." Still a little further on in 
her letter Mrs. Geiser says : "We must 
believe in a Supreme Being, as we prom- 
ise, 'In the presence of God and these 
members I promise to faithfully perform 
all my obligations, support the Constitu- 
tion and laws of the Superior Laws of 
this lodge of the Degree of Honor Pro- 
tective Association.' " 

Has the D. of H. religion? It has. Is 
the religion of the D. of H. Christian? 
It is not. What duty has every Christian 
over against false doctrine? Mt. 15:13: 
"Every plant which my heavenly Father 
hath not planted, shall be rooted up." 
Galatians 1 :8: * 'Though we or an angel 
from heaven, preach any other gospel 
unto you, than that which we have 
preached, let him be accursed." 2 Cor. 
6:17: "Come out from among them and 
be ye separate !" Romans 16:17: "Mark 
them which cause division and offences 
among you contrary to the doctrine 
which ye have learnt and avoid them." 
Could words state our duty over against 
the false doctrine of the D. of H. any 
stronger ? 

Is Its Charity Christian? 

Does the Degree of Honor do Chris- 
tian Charity work? Mrs. Lois A. Geiser 
states : "Think of us as a good life in- 
surance organization for women, that 
does more than just insure lives, as we 
do a great fraternal, charitable work, and 
hence a Christian work." 

Is fraternal charitable work Christian? 
Fraternal charitable work is this : that 
the lodge does good to those who are its 
members. Is this Christian? Mt. 5:46 
we have a statement 'out of Christ's 
mouth on this brand of charity. He 
says: "If ye love them which love you, 
what reward have ye ? Do not even pub' 
licans the same?" 1 Cor. 13:5 the Apos- 
tle says : "Charity seeketh not her own." 
The money which the D. of H. pays to 



its beneficiaries is no more charity than 
the money which the Metropolitan Life 
Insurance Co. pays to its policy holders 
or their assigns. But let us say that the 
D. of H. steps out of the narrow con- 
fines of the fraternity and does good to 
such as are not members. Is this Chris- 
tian charity? Again we must answer: 
No. Two places in Scripture compel us 
to give this answer. Romans 14:23 we 
read: "Whatsoever is not of faith is 
sin." ^ Hebrews 11:6: "Without faith 
it is impossible to please God." If the 
D. of H. would believe, teach and con- 
fess: repentance, faith in the blood of 
Christ, then the handing of a cup of 
water to a street Arab would be a shining 
work of Christian charity. As it is its 
charity is mock charity. Its c'harity is 
selfishness. 

There are still a few other things in 
the D. of H. which are objectionable 
from a Christian viewpoint such as: the 
burial service (which is not much used), 
the administering of an oath, the giving 
of dancing parties. But let the above 
suffice to warn all those who seek their 
salvation with fear and trembling of the 
dangers which threaten their soul from 
the Degree of Honor. 

Carl S. Mundinger. 
Walker, Minn. 
April 11, 192 1. 



SCANDINAVIAN-AMERICAN FRA- 
TERNITY. 

The Scandinavian-American Fratern- 
ity was organized in 1893, and the head- 
quarters of the Grand Lodge is Eau 
Claire, Wisconsin. 

Albert Nelson, the President, and 
Peter J. Smith, the Secretary, reside in 
Eau Claire, while Harold B. Olson, Vice- 
President, lives at Brainerd, Minnesota, 
L. H., Larson, Treasurer, and J. K. 
Moen, Head Physician, at Minneapolis. 
The Order is a close rival to The Sons of 
Norway, and "Christian' people with 
good moral character and who are of 
Scandinavian race or descent are eligible 
to membership. 

The Scandinavian-American Fratern- 
ity, like all other secret societies of lodge 
fashion (like the Sons of Norway) has 
a ritual. 

It is claimed that this ritual is not 



May, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



religious, but of course it is, for it has a 
funeral service which is herewith pub- 
lished. 

There are a great many people that 
belong to these minor Orders that would 
consider highly reprehensible member- 
ship in the Masonic fraternity, for in- 
stance, but claim that their minor orders 
are not religious. Most of them are mis- 
taken, for they do not realize that our 
State insurance laws provide that a lodge 
system must embrace certain "moral" or 
"religious" benefits in order to be classed 
with the church and exempt from the 
specified taxation. 

The Scandinavian-American Fratern- 
ity is a chip off the old block, a real tail- 
feather of Masonry, and its Constitutions 
and By-laws provide that the society 
must not discuss any religion or politics 
at its meetings. 

The lodge officers of the Scandinavian- 
American Fraternity have a stand (like 
all other lodges) around which they sit 
while performing their lodge duties in 
the lodgeroom. There is in the center 
what is called a "center stand," though 
most lodges call it the "altar." 

"I will say that we certainly bury our 
dead," says P. J. Smith, Grand Secre- 
tary of the Grand Lodge. "That is, 
when one of our members is dead we 
assist the widow and orphans and those 
left behind with all our might to help 
them in their bereavement. We assist 
them to bury their loved ones, by visiting 
with them and asking if there is anything 
which we can assist them with such as 
undertakers, ministers or pall-bearers 
and other things. If the mourners wish 
to do all this themselves they are at a 
privilege to do so." 

There are said to be "Norwegian min- 
isters of the highest type" belonging to 
this lodge ; which would naturally include 
some Norwegian Baptist and Norwegian 
Methodist and some Lutheran ministers. 
Rev. P. R. Syrdal, a member of the Nor- 
wegian Lutheran Church of America 
(not the Norwegian Synod of the Synod- 
ical Conference) is a member in good 
standing with the Scandinavian-Ameri- 
can Fraternity, and we should not doubt 
but what there are other pastors in that 
body who are lodge members now since 
that famous union in 19 t 7, when the lib- 
erals took charge. Rev. Mr. Syrdal says 



that his lodge has "vows" and "secrets," 

but that it has "no religion." 1 ( official 
Document, March 14. 1 921.) But be is 
very much mistaken in this. It is too 
bad that a prominent minister like Rev. 
Mr. Syrdal, being an honorable man and 
pastor of "the largest congregation of 
Norwegians in America," should set such 
a poor example for our youth. 

The burial ceremony, pages 26 to j s of 
the official ritual, follows : 

Burial Ceremony. 

The following rules shall be observed by the 
subordinate lodges in the burial of men, 
when it is done by the Lodge : 

The members meet in the Hall at the ap- 
pointed time. The President or the acting 
Officer opens the meeting by announcing to the 
members why they are called together. He ap- 
points the Marshal for the occasion and Pall- 
bearers. Also members to carry the Banner. 
The members shall carry funeral badges and 
the Banner shall be covered with black crepe. 
Should there be any reason why the President 
or the Vice President cannot officiate, then 
some member who is qualified for the occa 
shall be appointed. 

If the funeral is from the home of the de- 
ceased member and a long distance from the 
hall, the members may gather at the house. In 
that case the President does not open any 
meeting, but the same appointments must be 
made. 

(If a clergyman is present and officiates at 
the funeral and uses the ritual of the church, 
then no part of the Lodge Ritual shall be used. 
If not, the following ceremony may be ob- 
served) : 

In the house of mourning as well as at the 
hall the members form a circle around the 
coffin and the family of the deceased. The 
officiating President may speak as follows : 

Brothers. Sisters and Friends : We are as- 
sembled today to show the last honor to one of 
our number who is called away from us to the 
life hereafter. Death is a certain, impartial vis- 
itor ; every day and hour he knocks at the door 
of someone. Many of those we associated 
with before are now no more; also to us who 
are present here may the tidings come that we 
must depart from this life. On an occasion 
like this it is fitting that we gravely consider 
all this and be mindful of using our time well 
while we are in this world so that when the 
summons of death comes to us we can peace- 
fully submit and say: "My day's work is done 
and' I am ready to go to my last resting place." 
While the deceased was living he joined our 
society, the noble object of which is to comfort 
the sick, to bury the dead and to lend a help- 
ing hand to those left in sorrow and disl 
His place among us is vacant ; we will never 
again hear his voice, but the fruit o'i his labor 
remains. The willows and. the fatherless will 
bless the memory of those whose work has 
been to alleviate sorrows, to prevent need from 
making its entry into their homes. Brothers 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



May, 1921. 



and Sisters, it will only be a short time before 
we are no more. Let us therefore treat each 
other with charity and use our opportunities in 
doing good to each other as far as we are able. 
Let us also remember the dear ones who are 
left behind and stood near to the deceased, and 
whose loss is greater than ours, and show our 
sympathy by standing by them in their grief 
for the departed whose memory will live with 
us in reverence. We now soon turn over the 
dead body to the earth, but the spirit has re- 
turned to its origin. This earthly form of our 
brother, to which we now will say farewell, is 
but the dust from which the spirit has de- 
parted to meet above, as we hope, with those 
who have departed before to live the eternal 
life. 

(Here the Lord's Prayer may be said.) 

(The Marshal forms the members in two 
ranks, facing each other. The pallbearers, pre- 
ceded by the President, convey the body to the 
hearse. If the members are to go in procession 
it should be formed and set in motion. When 
the cemetery is reached, the ranks open and 
again face each other.) 

(At the grave.) 

"Rest here, brothers, because the days of this, 
our brother, are at an end. His body will now 
be delivered to the grave, which is the last 
resting place for all. We shall also be like him 
whose earthly remains are now before us, 
dressed in the burial shroud, and like him, our 
bodies shall be turned over to the silence of 
the grave." 

(The coffin shall now be lowered into the 
grave and the members shall form a circle 
around the grave while the President makes 
the following remarks : 

''When a sorrowful occasion like this sum- 
mons us together to place a brother's body in 
its lasting resting place there are valuable 
teachings for us if we consider them seriously. 
There is no one so rich that he can evade 
death, and there is no one so poor but that he 
can find a resting place. Our brother's home 
is no longer on this earth; his torch of life is 
extinguished, but we hope that his spirit, free 
from earthly cares, may live above in the 
abode of light, where grief, affliction and death 
is no more, but joy, peace and eternal life." 

The President will take some earth in his 
hand and spread upon the coffin while saying 
the following : 

"Earth to earth, dust to dust; rest in peace; 
farewell, brother, farewell." 

"Farewell" (repeated by all present). 

"Should the President or the one who offi- 
ciates at the funeral desire to say more or use 
other words than are in this ritual, he is not 
prohibited from doing so. Should a branch of 
this Order, for any reason, object to using 
these rules and ceremonies, the Grand Presi- 
dent may release them therefrom." 

Here we find the same heathen hope 
as is common to all lodges. There is not 
one single word said about faith in Christ 
Jesus as the sinner's only hope of justi- 
fication before God ! "Let us therefore 
treat each other with charity and use our 



opportunities in doing good," and all will 
be well in the hereafter. What a lie! 
What is charity anyway? Is the "char- 
ity" of the lodge to leave five cents' 
worth of stale peanuts with the "kiddies" 
or perhaps seventy-five cents' worth of 
half-wilted flowers with the "bereaved"? 
This is not charity. I know what kind 
acts and deeds of friendship mean to a 
person in despair, both from the Word 
of God and from personal experiences. 
And I say, The person who tries to make 
out that "all is well" after death without 
even mentioning what Christ Jesus, the 
Son of God, has accomplished for us in 
His suffering and death, he is, most cer- 
tainly, the most uncharitable person on 
the face of the earth. 



The Moody Bible Institute of Chi- 
cago graduated thirty-five students of 
the winter term from its Bible study, 
missionary and Gospel music courses at 
public exercises in the Institute Audi- 
torium April 2 ist ult. The graduating 
class represents twelve states and four 
foreign countries. Ten will graduate 
from the missionary course. 



PLANS TO BAR K. K. K. 

Trenton, March 4. — A bill against es- 
tablishment of the Ku Klux Klan in New 
Jersey has been introduced in the Legis- 
lature by Assemblyman Walter B. Alex- 
ander of Essex County, the first Negro 
ever elected to the lawmaking body in 
this State. He is a physician, practicing 
in Newark, an^ was swept into the Legis- 
lature with the Harding "landslide." 

Dr. Alexander declares that the intro- 
duction of the bill is the result of "very 
definite rumors" of a plan to form in 
Jersey City a branch of the Ku Klux 
Klan, which has been reorganized in the 
South and is said to be spreading in the 
North. 

The bill as introduced is intended to 
amend the act "regulating fraternal bene- 
ficiary societies, orders and associations" 
by adding a sentence to the first section 
reading : 

"Such associations shall not have for 
the objects or purposes, either directly or 
indirectly, attacks upon religious sects or 
denominations, suppression of religious 
beliefs, obstruction of spiritual worship, 



May, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



creation of industrial unrest, propagation 
of racial prejudices and disturbances, 
suppression of foreign immigration and 
the suppression of laws." 

Attached to the bill is the following 
statement : 

"The purpose of this amendment is to 
broaden the scope of the law, prevent 
racial disturbances, safeguard religious 
beliefs and promote harmony and better 
welfare in industrial and social activities, 
to prevent the organization of Ku Klux 
Klan and similar societies." 

Similar bills are to be introduced in all 
the Northern Legislatures, it was de- 
clared, and one has been prepared for in- 
troduction in the New York Legislature. 

The National Association for the Ad- 
vancement of Colored People on Decem- 
ber 14 gave out a letter written to the 
Federal Attorney in New York asking 
him to investigate the report that the 
Klan was organizing in New York and 
pointing out that if it intended to carry 
on the same activities credited to it in the 
South its plans were clearly in violation 
of the New York criminal code. 

The next day Col. William J. Sim- 
mons of Atlanta, Ga., known as the ''Im- 
perial Wizard of the Knights of the Ku 
Klux Klan," declined either to affirm or 
deny that a branch was forming in New 
York, but said that special interest in the 
Klan had been recently demonstrated in 
New York and that thousands of volun- 
tary applications for membership had 
been sent in. — The World. 



A SECEDER'S TESTIMONY. 

My Experience as a "Liberal" United 

Brethren Preacher. 

My first charge as a pastor was in 
Nebraska, where I served only for a few 
months. I left Nebraska and came to 
Wisconsin, my field of labor being Lima 
Center, and also at a church sixteen miles 
in the country. I had served here almost 
a year when I met with opposition from 
the lodge. I mentioned in a sermon one 
Sunday that a real Christian who was in- 
telligent as to secret societies could not 
belong to a lodge. This was taken up by 
three men who were outsiders — not mem- 
bers of the church — who 1 am sure were 
convicted by the truth but wanted me off 
of the field/ They got the co-operation of 
their brother Mason, who was my Dis- 



trict Superintendent, whom 1 was under. 
( >f course, he could gel me out for he 
was in the position to do so, and they 
were not. This he tried to do, but at 
first he did not succeed well. Me then 
ordered a meeting of the Quarterly Con- 
ference at a place sixteen miles out in 
the country. Having been at one time 
a politician, he knew how to lay his 
wires, lie held the meeting out there 
because it suited the purpose, and also 
because I did not know the people very 
well out there, nor did they know me 
very well. Had they known me, I am 
sure he would have been defeated. But 
as they did not know me well, lie played 
on their feelings, and they did not fall 
wise to the real purpose of the meeting. 
So he got them on his side to vote giving 
him authority to discharge me, as he saw- 
fit. They not knowing me well, and 
knowing him for years back, gave him 
this authority. Poor people ! He told 
the Conference he did not know whether 
or not he would use his authority and 
discharge me, but he wanted the author- 
ity anyway. I believe he was just trying 
to calm them. 

Before closing the meeting he asked 
me if I had anything I wished to say, and 
I said that I did. I arose and handed 
in my resignation as pastor. It was a 
surprise to him and every one. Of course 
he could not discharge me for I was 
through. He tried to ignore my resigna- 
tion and wrote me a letter of dismissal, 
which I still have in my possession. This 
was about three years ago. I was for- 
bidden by him to enter the church, so the 
people at Lima Center asked me to stay 
and hold meetings at various homo. I 
told them that I did not want to stir up 
any animosity or division and 1 lett the 
field, and went into evangelistic work. 

These people refused to accept a pas- 
tor in that field after 1 left and I believe 
they have none to this day. 

I am in evangelistic work at the pres- 
ent time, and will gladly help any pastor 
in a revival meeting to get folks into the 
truth. I have not only had the< mal 

experiences with the members oi the lo- 
cal Masonic lodge and Masonic U. B. 
Superintendent, but 1 have made a care- 
ful study o\ the propositions and know 
what 1 am talking about when 1 speak on 



10 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



May, 1921. 



the lodge question. Let no pastor who 
reads this and wants the truth spoken in 
his midst have any backwardness in ask- 
ing for my help, if he wishes it. As I 
am in general evangelistic work and have 
no fear of this secret power, I am glad 
to tell folks about it. 

We need to warn people. Satan is 
binding them into bundles very fast these 
days. I do not see how any one can call 
himself a Christian when belonging to 
such spiritually dead things. They can- 
not have the power of Christ in their 
lives. How can they? They certainly 
never met Him in the lodge. Their pro- 
fession can only be form. Oh, the folly 
and deception ! Let us who have the light 
let it shine out against the modern baal- 
ism of our day. 

Yours for Christ and His truth, 

A. J. Mueller. 
2234 Frank Street, 

Racine, Wisconsin. 



INDEPENDENT ORDER OF ODD- 
FELLOWS. 

By Rev. G: H. Hospers. 

This is a secret society founded in 
England in 18 12, although as an instance 
of the credulity of unbelief Donaldson 
says in his "Odd-Fellow's Pocket Com- 
panion," p. 14, 

''There has been much speculation as 
to the origin of the institution of Odd- 
fellowship. Some have dated it as far 
back as Adam, who was said to have laid 
the foundation stone of the Order." 

It is a secret society with weird cere- 
monies calculated to impress spiritual 
and moral lessons. On initiating a can- 
didate, the Venerable Warden provides 
himself with a long gray beard, a long 
gray wig, and a long black robe to give 
him the appearance of a very old man. 
The Right and Left Scene Supporters 
are clothed in white robes. The Conduc- 
tor is also clothed in a long black robe, 
while the other members wear semi- 
masks. A coffin containing a skeleton, 
or an imitation, is brought out and placed 
in the center of the lodge-room, and the 
Supporters provide themselves with 
torches which are lit at the proper time. 
The candidate is led in blindfolded; is 
presently chained and threatened with 
binding to the stake. While solemn noise 



is made he is slowly passed around, and 
the Conductor says : ''Mail in darkness 
and in chains ! How mournful the spec- 
tacle !" etc. They halt before the cof- 
fined corpse (or its imitation), the blind- 
fold is taken off and the Conductor says : 
"Be serious, for our lesson is as melan- 
choly as it is truthful. Behold a repre- 
sentation of the effect of death. * * * 
Should it not awake the soul to a just 
sense of responsibility to its God — of 
duty to itself?'' etc. He is led to the 
Vice-Grand who orders the chains off 
and repledges him, with his hand on his 
heart, to conceal the whole work of the 
lodge and not to wrong it. He is brought 
to the Noble Grand and to the Past 
Grand who further lecture him. And so 
it goes on in solemn words and under 
weird circumstances to teach religion and 
morality. They boast they have the cure 
for all ills and evils. Strife and discord, 
party and sect are banished from their 
midst. Their aim is to lead man to the 
cultivation of the true fraternal relation 
designed by the great Author of his be- 
eing. They exalt Friendship, Love and 
Truth, and think they truly and alone 
possess it, and are destined to have it 
prevail on the earth. Their great prin- 
ciple is the Fatherhood of God and the 
Brotherhood of Man, -on which they 
build their religion of the natural man 
who will be saved through his own works. 
"He who practices this charity, and 
teaches it to others shall be crowned with 
honor, and come down to the grave in 
peace with the full assurance of a blessed 
future" (Donaldson, Pocket Manual, p. 

41). 

Oddfellowship Is a Religion. 

The Standard Dictionary defines re- 
ligion as a "belief binding the spiritual 
nature of man to a Supreme Being on 
whom he is conscious that he is depend- 
ent ; also, the practice that springs out 
of the recognition of such relation, in- 
cluding the personal life and experience, 
the doctrine, the duties and the rites 
founded on it." Measured by this defi- 
nition Oddfellowship is in every respect 
a religion. Its whole constitution, the con- 
duct of its work, and objects to be gained 
are religious. It has its prayers, altars, 
chaplains, rituals, order of worship and 
funeral ceremonies. And this is con- 



May, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



11 



firmed by the language of their own writ- 
ers. The Rev. A. B. Grosh, one of their 
chief exponents and a writer of the "New 
Oddfellows' Manual," a standard work 
on the Order, and repeatedly endorsed by 
their Grand Lodges, says in perfect sup- 
port of the first part of the definition of 
religion: "Oddfellowship is based on a 
religious principle or doctrine, the ex- 
istence of a Supreme Intelligence as a 
Creator and Preserver of the universe, 
and as the Father of all men" (p. 372). 
"It is founded on great principles — the 
Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood 
of Man — which, being revealed, consti- 
tute doctrines for faith and guidance" 
(p- 3/6)- "It will arouse a soul to a 
just sense of its responsibility to God and 
its duty to man. It will fill his heart 
with a salutary horror of that monster 
sin, whose power has arrayed man against 
his fellowman, and washed the earth 
with tears and deluged it in blood'' (p. 
105). "What regeneration by the Word 
of Truth is in religion, initiation is in 
Oddfellowship" (p. 100). "So far we 
are a religious body and have a religious 
faith for the basis of our fellowship and 
to unite us in religious duty" (p. 364). 
"No church in its present state is exten- 
sive enough in its fellowship to embrace 
many good men who need the ministra- 
tion of kindred spirits, nor far-reaching 
enough to reach even its own members 
when distant from it, and needing aid 
and protection. But if an Oddfellow 
* * *." But that Oddfellow must have 
paid his dues, and they can do nothing 
except for a man that is free, white and 
in good health (Grosh, p. 84). 

Their purpose in doctrine and cere- 
mony is not only to inculcate morality 
but also in the strictly religious sense of 
striving for salvation from sin with its 
resultant entrance upon eternal life. 
Thus they sing in their funeral odes : 

"Though in the Grand Lodge above 
We remember thee in love" (p. 403). 

"And now he quits our weary train, 

And marches o'er the heavenly heights; 
But we shall walk witli him again. 

And share his rest and his delight*' (p. 
408). 

"Till life shall end — then hear the voice. 
Depart in peace from earth to heaven - ' 
(p. 409). 



The prayer at the dedication of a ceme- 
tery asks the lodge-god to "purify our 
hearts, elevate our desires, and fit us for 
thy service." And the Xoble Grand as- 
sures the Oddfellow- that over their "de- 
parted dwells ever the bright halo of the 
hope of a glorious resurrection" < Grosh, 
PP- 374, 375)- 

Oddfellowship Is Not the Christian 
Religion. 

^ The Grand Sire of the Sovereign 
Grand Lodge said in a decision in [g 
"Our Order only requires a belief in the 
existence of a Supreme Being a- a quali- 
fication for membership, and has no 
affinity with any religious sect or 
tern of faith. Hence, everything savor- 
ing of sectarianism is not to be tolerated. 
The word 'system of faith' or 'sect' do 
not have reference merely to sects within 
the pale of Christianity, but have a far 
broader significance, and include all the 
religions of the world." They boast of 
their broadmindedness and toleration. 
"They cant and deplore over the sects 
of Christianity and teach their own little 
sect divided from other secret sects and 
the outside world by walls of secrecy, 
and excluding all who inherit the least 
tinge of brown, or yellow in their com- 
plexion, they boast, 'Here no artificial 
distinctions of nation, sect or tribe are 
known.' To utter such lofty falsehoods 
must require the brazen tongue and brow 
of a hypocrite. Yet they insist, 'The 
rule by which we walk is founded upon 
the immutable truth that all mankind 
are brethren' (Ritual, p. 1 J. Blanchard, 
p. 200.)" 

Although professedly ( )dd fellowship 
may not class itself as a full-edged reli- 
gion, the conclusion cannot be avoided 
that it is a religious system, or at 
the root of all religions upon which the 
others can further graft their own parti- 
cular views. However, such as it is, 
Oddfellowship claims for itself to be 
sufficient for spiritual ends and practic- 
ally embracing all other religions. We 
certainly agree with them that it is not 
Christianity. 

But we take positive issue with their 
pretense that their attitude towards 
religion is a neutral one. < hi account of 
which no religion should feel it -elf antag- 
onized but rather benefitted. However, 






12 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



May, 1921. 



we hold that Christianity is the only 
true religion and that God denounces all 
neutrality and regards it as equal to 
rejection of Himself. God the Father 
demands that His Son shall be honored 
and he who does not honor the Son does 
not honor the Father. No prayer will 
be heard by the only true God except 
such as is offered in the name of Jesus ; 
yea more, he that loveth not the Lord 
Jesus Christ is accursed. Hence, every 
lodge prayer is blasphemous, presump- 
tuous and insulting to Deity. Since it is 
offered in direct disobedience of His 
command, it is a grievous slight upon 
the Son of His infinite love through 
whose merits alone He can have any- 
thing to do with the sinner. God the 
Father specifically repudiates any honor 
to the neglect of His Son with whom He 
is one. 

The boast of Oddfellowship of exer- 
cising a benevolence derived from Chris- 
tianity and putting even the Church to 
shame is a piece of hypocrisy, for^ that 
benevolence is placed upon the strictest 
commercial basis. Their chief authority, 
Rev. A. B. Grosh, witnesses to this: 
"John Randolph professed to have found 
that the philosopher's stone consisted 
simply in these four words : 'Pay as you 
go.' But an Oddfellow will more surely 
find it in the three words: 'Pay in ad- 
vance'," (p. 192). In such language 
their own witness gives their case away 
in that their charity is not as genuine 
and real as they boast of. For not only 
are two of every three dollars expended 
on regalia and the like, but they will try 
to avoid charity if they can. Witness 
their own official "Journal of Proceed- 
ings, Sovereign Grand Lodge, Session 
of 1880," p. 8212: "Old Oddfellows. 
These brothers are subject to one wrong. 
On changing residence they take a with- 
drawing-card and seek to join a lodge at 
their new home; but they are rejected 
because of age. The old lodge frequently 
declines to take them back, and they are 
turned out to die." 

It is a sad thing that Oddfellows suc- 
ceed in hoodwinking Christians into a 
belief of its exalted character; and sad- 
der still that these Christians do not 
perceive that benevolence in an evil 
cause, far from justifying it, is a most 
alluring bait of the Devil to catch the 



simple. It is humiliating that Christian 
Oddfellows love to point to the benevo- 
lence of the Lodge with some disparage- 
ment of the Church. What can it be 
that makes a Christian Oddfellow more 
willing and zealous to work for and 
praise his Lodge than glory in his church 
and his Savior? It is downright treach- 
ery to the Master who bought us, and 
whose name is cast out of the Lodge, 
thus to exalt and love an evil institution 
which operates in competition with the 
Church, discredits it, and parades as a 
substitute fully as good, as witness its 
benevolence and brotherly love. The 
Lodge has stolen the livery of heaven, 
has modelled it after the fashion of the 
world, and now claims the praise' of God 
and man. 

Oddfellowship Is a Kind of Paganism. 
Not being the Christian religion and 
containing elements contrary to it, Odd- 
fellowship is simply a species of Pagan- 
ism, or at best a distortion and false im- 
itation of Christianity. 

It is guilty of grave heresy in holding 
the Fatherhood of God and the brother- 
hood of man without regard to sin which 
has turned these into a judge and ene- 
mies respectively. It is heresy because 
they claim salvation without the merits 
of Christ who is studiously ignored. It 
is heresy because the office of the Holy 
Spirit is neglected, since their initiation 
takes the place of regeneration and in 
that the rites of the Order will avail to 
produce a God-pleasing life. In sum, 
'the profession of Oddfellowship to cure 
sin and evil apart from the Cross and 
the Spirit of grace is directly at variance 
with the Bible which they profess to 
honor. 

Their use of the Bible for private pur- 
poses is unauthorized by Scripture; it is 
presumptuous as using it contrary to its 
grand purpose of bestowing all its bene- 
fits upon all mankind freely. And the 
manner they use it is blasphemy. "They 
light on the Christian Scriptures as night- 
bugs on green trees, devouring them of 
their leaves and robbing them of their 
glory, they appropriate everything in the 
Bible but Christ, who is the substance 
of the Book. They seize on the Scripture 
narratives, symbols and morals to give 
dignity to their frivolity and vulgarity, 
and cover their robbery of the money 



May, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



13 



and religion of the people as pirates run 
up their flags of the vessels which they 
board, rob and scuttle." (J. Blanchard, 
p. 9). 

"Turn over their Manuals and look at 
their pictures. The Holy (metallic) 
Bible, the mimic Ark of the Covenant, 
the Brazen Serpent, representing Christ's 
sin-offering, whom they cast from their 
prayers; the Stone tables of the Law; 
the Dove of the Retiring Deluge and the 
Rainbow pledge that it is not to return. 
What are these but emblems filched 
from the Bible to give seeming sanctity 
to an opposite religion, and cover the 
corruption of a mutualized society which 
takes three dollars in dues and pays back 
one in benefits." (lb., p. 19). 

Says Rev. A. B. Grosh in his Odd- 
Fellowship Manuel : "Scarlet vestments, 
an allusion to the glory and excel- 
lence of the sacerdotal office, are given in 
the Fifth, or Degree of the Priestly 
Order. God said to Moses, Thou shalt 
make holy garments for Aaron, thy 
brother, for glory and beauty.' In the 
several specifications which follow the 
Divine charge, we find that scarlet was 
ordained to be a constituent part of the 
robe, the ephod, the curious girdle of the 
ephod, and of the breastplate of judg- 
ment" (p. 155). 

"Why does Masonry and Oddfellow- 
ship take their sacred lessons from the 
Bible? They depend on Christ for their 
ideas of virtue. Christ only has elevated 
mankind. But with amazing effrontery 
they claim superiority for the lodge as a 
world-wide religion, using the wonder- 
ful histories and parables, but casting 
out Christ, and then putting the Bible 
on a level with the false revelations 
which they never quote" (After J. 
Blanchard). They have no right to 
appropriate Bible history and symbols 
for their own private ends : this is pros- 
tituting holy things to unlawful purposes 
and is blasphemous. 

In conclusion. Oddfellowship is 
therefore a wicked institution which 
every Christian . should instinctively 
avoid. The Church of Christ has no 
need of such an Order because the 
Church is herself a holy unbreakable fra- 
ternity founded by God Himself and led 
by the Holy Spirit. The members of this 



Christian fraternity arc one in the Lord 
Jesus Christ, and they manifest them- 
selves by confession of 1 lis name accord- 
ing to the Word of God and glorify that 
Name through works of mercy. Every 
member of the Church of Christ is 
therefore called to devote his powers and 
gifts to the welfare of the brethren and 
fellow-man" ( Wachter ). 

Furthermore, the mutual help which 
the Oddfellow furnishes his own, can 
not be conceived of or seperated from 
the unholy principles which set God as 
revealed in Christ aside and which op- 
pose the Church and the Christian faith 
— in which principles the members are 
bound to exercise themselves in order 
to grow in them and extend them else- 
where. 

Finally, the secrecy which this order 
also requires is squarely against the 
genius of Christianity and against en- 
lightened democratic government as 
well. Our Lord bids us to let our light 
so shine that men may glorify our 
Father which is in heaven. We are 
bound to make available to all mankind 
whatever spiritual benefits God has be- 
stowed for worldwide distribution. The 
opposite course is one of selfishness, and 
fosters clannishness. 
Ontario, New York, April 1, 1921. 



BIBLE INSTITUTES AND THEOLOGI- 
CAL SEMINARIES. 

In an address delivered at the recent 
Founder's Week Conference at The 
Moody Institute of Chicago, Dr. James 
M. Gray said in part : 

I have been requested to speak on the 
need of Bible Institutes and Bible Con- 
ferences such as this, in the light of 
what some theological seminaries arc 
teaching and have been teaching for 
years past. Let it not be supposed, how- 
ever, that I am to criticize or condemn 
theological seminaries as a class. ' 
can hardly imagine what would have been 
the history of the church since the Refor- 
mation had there been no theological sem- 
inaries, for which all of us have cause to 
praise God. And as to some seminaries 
today, 1 am happy to add that there are 
those which are quite as loyal to the truth 
as we understand it. as the Moody Bible 
Institute. 






14 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



May, 1921. 



It is sometimes charged against the 
Institute that it lays such emphasis on 
the second coming of Christ, or pre- 
millennialism, that it has no place nor 
good word for any theological seminary 
or other Christian institution where the 
same is not true. 

Such is not the case. While we stren- 
uously believe in orthodox and evangeli- 
cal standards, we are aware that ortho- 
doxy, as generally understood, does not 
of necessity include pre-millennialism. It 
is difficult for us to see how any Chris- 
tian can thoroughly study the Bible and 
not discover that truth, but this does no^ 
carry with it the obligation to stigmatize 
as a heretic any one who does not. 
What We Believe. 

It is not a sine qua non of The Moody 
Bible Institute that a member of its 
Faculty, even, shall hold to the pre-mil- 
lennial coming of our Lord. We re- 
quire that he shall believe in the plenary 
inspiration of the Scriptures, the Deity 
of Christ, the sacrificial nature of His 
atonement, the personality and work of 
the Holy Spirit, the lost condition of 
men, the necessity of the new birth, ancf 
the eternal retribution of those who die 
in their sins. But if he stands four- 
square on these truths, and is right in 
other particulars, and is desirable for our 
work, we should not say to him, "You 
can not be accepted because you do not 
see eye to eye with us on pre-millen- 
nialism.'' 

We believe he would not be with us 
very long until this were brought about, 
and perhaps that has something to do 
with our confidence, but the fact remains 
nevertheless. 

Our students would teach such a pro- 
fessor that truth even if we did not; for 
it may surprise some of our critics to 
learn that as a rule, our students are pos- 
sessors of the "Blessed Hope," before 
they enter the Institute. 

This contradicts a popular opinion that 
the Institute is a great propaganda for 
pre-millennialism. As a matter of fact 
we have no chair on that subject, and 
no teacher who gives his time to it or to 
prophecy in the more general sense, or to 
dispensational matters at all, save as they 
come in the regular order of the teaching 
of the Bible or Bible Doctrines as the 
case may be. 



II. 

But the seminaries I have in mind as 
making necessary Bible Institutes and 
Bible conferences, are those not holding 
the other doctrines named above, and 
which in the eyes of orthodoxy are the 
dpha and omega of Christianity. 

Some of these seminaries are among 
the most influential in the visible church, 
not because of the size of their student 
roll always, but because of the hospitality 
accorded their public utterances by a dis- 
tracted Christendom ana a sympathetic 
world. 

Fairness suggests that I take illustra- 
tions of what I mean from the published 
writings of their professors. For ex- 
ample, there is "The Life of Jesus," writ- 
ten by Harris Franklin Rail, professor 
of systematic theology in Garrett Bib- 
lical Institute, just north of us. It is in- 
tended as a study book for high schools, 
junior classes in colleges and adult Bible 
classes, and is announced as giving the 
life of Jesus, his attitude to God and man, 
and His purpose in preaching and "dying 
for the Kingdom." 

"The Life of Jesus." 

■"We may be permitted to doubt," says 
a review of this book in a current issue of 
the Moody Bible Institute Monthly, 
"whether the book will find any use in 
evangelical schools, a doubt which arises 
from what the book does not say rather 
than from the errors that here and there 
come to the surface." 

The things omitted in the book are 
summed up by the reviewer as the Sa- 
viorhood of our Lord and the supernat- 
ural in His life. 

As to His Saviorhood, "the almost ex- 
clusive use of the term 'Jesus' in refer- 
ring to Him, while satisfactory to the 
man of the world, to the Mohammedan, 
to the Jew and the non-Christian, is not 
at all so to the true believer on Him as 
the Savior of the world. 

"It would be difficult to find in the 
book, even by implication, any mention 
of the shedding of His blood for the re- 
mission of sins. 

"The book is intended to show the 
preaching and teaching of the 'kingdom,' 
while the church has always believed that 
the work of Jesus Christ was primarily 
for the salvation of the individual man. 



^ 



May, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



IS 



"The absence of the supernatural is 
even more striking. The author seems 
to accept the physical resurrection of 
Christ from the dead, but in another 
place he says, 'This may be accounted as 
spiritual.' 

"There is not a statement that would 
lead to the belief that Jesus performed a 
miracle as popularly understood. In 
healing the demoniacs, His ministry, it 
is said, was largely correcting the Jewish 
error, which in the case of the demoniac 
of Capernaum is described as 'the bond- 
age of an evil life.' He limits the knowl- 
edge of our Lord by saying, 'How far 
Jesus shared in the views of His day as 
to evil spirits we do not know.' 

"The author says nothing about the 
earliest appearance of Jesus on the earth, 
the first glimpse we have being His ap- 
pearance at the Jordan to be baptized. 
And yet two of the Gospels give long ac- 
counts of His birth. So we have before 
us one of two things ; either Professor 
Rail refuses to recognize the miraculous 
in the birth of Jesus, or he discredits the 
accounts in Matthew and Luke. This is 
fatal to any story of the life of Jesus, 
as it leaves the student without any teach- 
ing as to His unique personality. 

A Fallible Bible. 

"In several places the author speaks of 
discrepancies between the Gospel rec- 
ords. He does not state that there is" a 
mistake, but that the statements of John 
are 'probably' correct. He says that in 
times past scholars tried to reconcile all 
these differences, believing that any error 
of any kind must make the whole Bible 
untrustworthy. 'We do not think so 
now,' he says, a statement which, of 
course, is in utter opposition to the in- 
fallibility of Holy Writ." 

To think of this gentleman as a pro- 
fessor of systematic theology in a semi- 
nary preparing men for the Christian 
ministry ! What would John Wesley 
think of such instruction, or a Methodist 
theologian like Richard Watson, or a 
burning coal for Christ and lost souls 
like Peter Cartright, or a pious bishop 
like Matthew Simpson, or a brilliant and 
combative editor like James M. Buckley? 

Professor Rail is the gentleman who in 
the Sunday School journal five years 
ago published a series of articles against 



pre-millennialism, the substance presum- 
ably of his later book on that theme, and 
which were replied to in the Moody Bib!e 
Institute Monthly, then known as the 
Christian Workers' Magazine, by the 
Rev. W. H. Griffith Thomas, D.D. 

Dr. Thomas showed conclusively that 
Professor Rail's criticisms were due al- 
most entirely to a view of the Bible 
largely dominated by the modern de- 
structive criticism, whose conception of 
the Christian religion is largely social, 
whose conception of the Kingdom of 
God is far removed from that of the 
New Testament, and whose conception 
of the Bible itself is that of a natural lit- 
erary product rather than a supernatural 
revelation from God. 

Ill 

But let us consider the teachings of 
another seminary. Here is a book en- 
titled, "The Evolution of Early Chris- 
tianity," which has been on the market 
four or five years, and which was writ- 
ten by Professor Shirley Jackson Case, 
of the Department of New Testament 
and Early Christian Literature in the 
University of Chicago. It is said to be 
"A Study of First Century Christianity 
in Relation to Its Religious Environ- 
ment." 

This author* does not believe in the 
Godhood of Jesus Christ, nor hence in 
His incarnation or bodily resurrection. 
He does not regard Him even as the 
founder of Christianity, but merely as a 
"distinguished personage" with an un- 
usual genius for religion, who was mar- 
tyred at an early period in His career 
and therefore closed His career in par- 
tial failure. Paul was the founder of 
Christianity, so far as it had any founder. 
who availed himself of certain ideas of 
Jesus — "items" are called in the book, 
and certain items of Judaism and Greek 
and Roman paganism, and certain items 
of his own. and thus produced the Chris- 
tian religion. 

A Fall'ble Lord. 

The following utterances are charac- 
teristic of the book. For example, diffi- 
culty is spoken of in assuming "that a 
sharp line can be drawn between what 
we know to have ben original with a 
certain group of persons like say, Jesus 



16 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



May, 1921. 



and the apostles, and constituent items 
from other sources'' (p. 23). 

"It is not possible even in Jesus' case 
to know what was original with Him, 
and what was the result of His personal 
reaction on His environment" (p. 23). 

"The exact determination of even the 
earliest source documents yield only cer- 
tain more or less primitive versions of 
Jesus' words and deeds ; and neither 
these documents nor the Jesus they por- 
tray, produced Christianity"! (40). 

' 'Jesus' and 'Christ' were the terms 
used to identify specifically that power- 
ful personage who had primary signifi- 
cance for the community's life, while the 
thought of Jesus' lordship was a secon- 
dary, though indeed an important no- 
tion' (115). 

It was merely "ecstatic experiences 
which established faith in Jesus' resur- 
rection and exaltation to Messianic dig- 
nity" (130). John 20:22, and Acts 2:1 
contradict each other (131), and the first 
Pentecost is "somewhat idealized" ! 
(135). This is also true of "the deeds 
of the apostles" (145). That special vir- 
tue was attached to the name of Jesus, 
as for example in casting out demons, 
was a "notion" (158). 

Jesus "impressed no definite program 
upon His disciples, or if He did, they 
failed to comprehend His meaning" 
(167). His death was that of a martyr 
only (349). "The evangelists all seek to 
advance the authority of the new reli- 
gion by making the Jesus of history an 
appropriate person to become the Christ 
of faith"! (359). 

Who Created the Christ? 

Being of oriental origin, Christianity 
"readily assumed many of the features 
which had made oriental mystery-cults 
and speculations attractive to many per- 
sons in the Roman Empire" (368). 

"But in the last analysis it owed its 
triumph to the activity of loyal individ- 
uals * * * who were sensitive to 
the religious forces within their environ- 
ment, and so drew inspiration from its 
life and responded to its needs by con- 
serving, heightening and supplementing 
current religious values"! (369). 

These quotations from Professor 
Case's book throw light on the recent ac- 
tion of the Theological Seminary of the 



University of Chicago in discontinuing 
The Biblical World and The American 
Journal of Theology, and publishing in 
their place The Journal of Religion. The 
center of interest of this new Journal is 
thus to be neither the Bible nor theology 
(the science of the knowledge of the God 
of the Bible), but just religion. Quoting 
the Presbyterian, "the change witnesses 
to the fact that the Theological Seminary 
is now bringing its nomenclature into 
harmony with the actual facts," which 
are that, in its view, the Christian reli- 
gion is only one among others, and the 
sacredness and authority of the Bible are 
limited accordingly. 

IV. 

Inasmuch as the teaching of these two 
leading seminaries is increasingly becom- 
ing that of others which copy after them, 
and of certain pulpits which do the same 
in order to be accounted scholarly and 
modern in their views of God and the 
world, can we be surprised that church 
leaders speak of a crisis confronting us 
in a dearth of ministers for present need, 
and that a more serious crisis is just 
ahead ? 

Why should virile young men have any 
ambition for a ministry of this kind, 
much less be willing to sacrifice for it? 
Dearth of Ministers. 

Oberlin University which has been a 
source of supply for Congregational min- 
isters, did not report a single member of 
its graduating class of last year «as being 
headed towards a Theological seminary. 
In Yale, Princeton and Chicago Univer- 
sities, the decline runs from 20 to 42 
per cent. At Wesleyan University, Mid- 
dletown, Conn.; and other Methodist 
Colleges conditions for the past ten 
years show no improvement. In 19 16 
the Protestant Episcopal Church had 692 
"postulants" as they are called, but at 
present the number is about one-half. 

These statistics are gathered from the 
Boston Evening Transcript, and, in^ my 
judgment, are not satisfactorily explained 
by the limitation of ministers' salaries, 
for "the Kingdom of God is not meat 
and drink." 

And this is not all of it, for while 
the supply is diminishing the demand is 
increasing. Newell Dwight Hillis is 
quoted in the Baptist Temple News as 






May, 1921, 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



saying that 25,000 preachers, or one- 
sixth of the whole number in protestant- 
ism, have withdrawn or are in the proc- 
ess of withdrawing from the ministry, 
to enter education or reform movements. 

Why the Decline? 

Moreover, thousands of theological 
students or young ministers left for the 
front during the war, only a small pro- 
portion of whom on their return have 
made their way back to the college, the 
seminary or the pastorate. 

Why is the Gospel ministry thus los- 
ing its attraction and power to hold men ? 
Is there any adequate answer except the 
present decline in faith, the apostacy in 
Christendom which the holy prophets 
foretold, and about which some religious 
editors of the modern school affect a 
sneer? 

As a West Virginia pastor in his lit- 
tle church paper pertinently inquires (W. 
C. Bradshaw of Logan) : ■ 

"If God is little more than a noble idea, 
if Jesus Christ is not Deity, if the Bible 
is not the final word of authority, if man 
is not hopelessly lost in sin, if the Cross 
is not the only means of salvation, if sal- 
vation is not wholly of grace, if the 
church's business is to patch up a 
wrecked world, then the preacher has 
no message left that is worth the sacri- 
fice he is called upon to make." 

Meanwhile Bible Institutes are filling 
up. It used to be that their curricula 
were adapted only to laymen, perhaps of 
advanced years or whose early training 
had been limited, and whose objective 
was that of the less conspicuous lay 
worker in the church, the rescue mission, 
or at the most, the evangelistic field. 

Meeting the Need. 

But the situation has undergone a 
change in the last decade. There are 
7,000 churches throughout Christendom 
who have not bowed the knee to Baal 
and whose lips have not kissed him. They 
love not Caesar less but Rome more. 
Culture they admire, but the Gospel they 
must have. 

Hence The Moody Bible Institute, at 
least, is trying to meet this new condition 
by giving a better equipment to its grow- 
ing roster of students than ever before. 
And it is giving it to students from all 
the denominations, at least ten of which 



are represented among its instructors. 

This is the basis of it- appeal both to 
God and to the saints of God, for the 
spiritual and the material support it so 
sorely needs. No church or organization 
is behind it, it has no considerable en- 
dowment to fall back upon and it walks 
by faith. 

Therefore, in conclusion, let me con- 
vert the curse of Meroz into an invitation 
and appeal that will make for blessing to 
them that heed it, as I asked. Who will 
come "to the help of the LORD, to the 
help of the LORD against the mighty?" 



Masonic Theology 

A lodge is said to be opened in the name of 
God and the Holy Saints John, as a declaration of 
the sacred and religious purposes of our meeting. 
— Mackey's Masonic Ritualist, page 24. 

The Lodge is, then, at the time of the reception 
of an Entered Apprentice, a symbol of the world, 
and the initiation is a type of the new life upon 
which the candidate is about to enter. There 
he stands without pur portals, on the threshold ef 
this new Masonic life, in darkness, helplessness 
and ignorance. Having been wandering amid the 
errors and covered over with the polution3 of the 
outer and profane world, he comes inquiringly to 
our door?, seeking the new birth, arra asking a 
withdrawal of the vail which conceals divine truth 
from his uninitiated sight. And here, as with 
Moses at the burn : ng bush, the solemn admonition 
is given, "Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the 
place whereon thou standest is holy ground;" and 
the ceremonial preparation^ surround him, aW of a 
significant character, to indicate to him that some 
great change is about to take place in his moral and 
intellectual condition. He is already beginning to 
discover that the design of Masonry is to introduce 
him to new views of life and its duties. He is, 
indeed, to commence with new lessons in a new 
school. There is to be, not simply a change for 
the future, but also an extinction of the past; for 
initiation is, as it were, a death to the world and 
a resurrection to a new life. — Mackey's Masonic 
Ritualist, pages 22 and 23. 

The Shock of Entrance is, then, ihe symbol 
of the disruption of the candidate from the tics of 
the world, and his introduction into the life of 
Masonry. It is the symbol of the agon : - g 
first death and of the throes of the new birth. 
— Mackey's Masonic Ritualist, page 24 ' By A. G 
Mackey, M. D., Past General Grand High Priest of 
the General Grand Chapter of the United States. 
Author of "A Lexicon on Free Masonry," "Manual 
of the Lodge." " Masonic Ritualist," ''The Book of 
th- Chapter" "Cryptic Masonry," etc. 



COMMENTS. 
}\\ Rev. K. J. MacInnes. 
Read Masonic Theology printed above. 
Notice terms used : 



18 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



May, 1921. 



"New life." 

"New Birth."' 

"Holy ground." 

"A death to the past." 

"A resurrection to a new life." 

i. Did you join Masonry to get the 

"new birth"? If so, did you experience 

it through Masonry? 

2. Do you know any one else who 
came to the new birth, the "new life," 
through Masonry? 

3. Did you get the resurrection to a 
new life according to this Masonic 
Theology ? 

4. Do you recognize the terms used 
in Mackey's Masonic Ritualist as iden- 
tical with the terms used in the Bible for 
the new birth ? Read John 3 :3 for "new 
birth," and Ephesians 2:1 to 5 for "res- 
urrection to a new life." 

5. Do they mean the same? 

6. If they do not mean the same ex- 
perience, are the terms not blasphemous 
when so used by Masons? 

7. If Masonry does mean the same 
experience as Jesus and Paul wished to 
convey by these terms, do you think the 
experience can come to one by the means 
used in Masonry? 

8. If not, are not such terms mislead- 
ing, if not blasphemous, when used by 
Masonry? 

9. What god uses blasphemy (that is 
profane speaking of God, claiming his 
attributes, names, titles, ordinances, word 
and works) as a part of his worship ? 

10. If President Blanchard is mis- 
taken in any of his premises in his tract, 
Modern Prophets of Baal, will you not 
please point it out in the interest of 
truth ? 

—Calvin, North Dakota. 



Even a mine mule knows enough to 
kick when they work him seven days a 
week. 



THE KU KLUX KLAN. 

An Eastern subscriber writes : 
In writing to you to renew my subscrip- 
tion, may I not call your attention to a 
secret society which at present is assum- 
ing immense proportions in the Eastern 
States? It is the society known as the 
Ku Klux Klan, having for its head Col. 
(?) William J. Simmons, known as the 



"Imperial Wizard." The headquarters 
of this society are in Atlanta, Ga. ; its 
membership is a matter of deep secrecy. 
The members take a "real oath with a 
serious purpose." 

Col. Simmons, a former Methodist 
preacher, has graciously told us at least 
this much about his new secret society, 
which will be of benefit to our Catholic 
people : "Only American citizens who be- 
lieve in the Christian religion and owe 
no allegiance of any degree or nature to 
any foreign government, political insti- 
tution, sect or persons, are eligible to 
membership/' 

It is easy to see that the new secret 
society of the Ku Klux Klan is anti- 
Catholic in its very nature and un-Ameri- 
can in its principles — if we know what 
American principles are at all today ! 

It would be well for us to watch and 
see who are the men that are joining this 
"Klan" in our midst. I trust the Fort- 
nightly Reviezv, which is always on the 
alert, will soon give us the real facts 
about the Ku Klux Klan. 

D. L. S. 



The Ku Klux Klan, which is now 
planning active invasion of the North, is 
not merely anti-Negro, says The Nation 
(No. 2898). It "is anti-Catholic, anti- 
Jew, and anti-agnostic as well. In the 
North we need not take too seriously the 
attempt to transplant from another age 
and clime this night-blooming poisonous 
weed. It will not thrive here in the light 
of publicity. In the South, its brutal 
lawlessness, its violation of every real 
tenet of the Americanism to which it 
falsely lays claim, should evoke the 
prompt action of the Federal authorities. 
To the Klan may be laid the recent mur- 
der and burning of men, women and 
children in Florida because a few colored 
citizens attempted to exercise their con- 
stitutional right to vote. The attempted 
northward extension of the order is mere- 
ly another symptom of the intolerance 
and hatred which inevitably follow the 
passions loosened and accentuated by the 
war. No right-thinking American can 
regard the Klan as aught but the anti- 
thesis of everything decent for which this 
country stands."— The Fortnightly Re- 
viezv. 



May, 1921, 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



'9 



£11111111111111 IlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllHIIIIIJIIIIIIillllllllllft Mm Illlliniliit; 



The Question of the Hour 



By E. E. FLAGG 

AUTHOR OF 
"Holden Will, Cords." 



~i 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 e 1 1 1 1 1 1 a i i 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ; 1 1 1 1 1 1 i 1 1 1 1 ! 1 1 1 1 j i : i i i 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ,i i m 1 1 1 1 f i 1 1 1 1 1 iiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiir: 

We cannot safely ignore the least important of the many evils now threatening so- 
ciety, for as a certain French writer very truly observes, "Errors are always friends and 
ready for a mutual embrace." It always is in the closeness of that embrace that the 
secret of their strength lies, and only when Christians unite in one combined onset 
against all evil, shall we see national reform inaugurated on a permanent basis. 

CHAPTER X. 

IN WHICH THE QUESTION IS MET FACE 
TO FACE. 

Nelson went to his work day after 



day with a strange new sense of uneasi- 
ness. There was an ominous electricity 
in the air — the presence of unknown 
forces which he could not guage or 
analyze any more than he could that 
mysterious power that can change the 
face of the solid land and fling up moun- 
tain peaks in mid ocean. A strike in 
the dead of winter, with all its entailed 
idleness and pinching want, was a folly* 
that he found nearly as difficult to under- 
stand as voluntary suicide. Nor did he 
believe that the men themselves, if left to 
the dictates of their own common sense, 
would adopt a remedy so much worse 
than the disease; but he strongly sus- 
pected what really proved to be the case, 
that the same Union agent whose ad- 
vances he had so bluntly repelled was 
secretly and with no inconsiderable suc- 
cess laboring to foment discontent among 
the other hands. Some hundreds were 
employed in the works, foreigners and 
native born, as miscellaneous in their 
political and religious creed as in their 
nationality, but nearly all bound together 
by the tie of the secret Trades Union. 

"The fellow is a disguised socialist," 
he said to Martha ; "and I believe he is 
doing a great deal of mischief in his 
smooth, quiet kind of way. The majority 
of the men are too ignorant or too 
unthinking to see that any attempt to 
injure capital is simply cutting their own 
fingers. They know they are unjustly 
treated, and the impulse is to strike in a 



blind, blundering fashion at what they 
think is hurting them. They don't stop 
to consider that three or four months 
of enforced idleness, during which he 
will receive no wages at all, is an injury 
far more real to the working man than 
to be docked of a portion, however un- 
fairly. But I've talked till I begin to 
think the wisest way is to keep silence. 
I believe already some of the men — and 
they are honest fellows whose good opin- 
ion I value — are beginning to look upon 
me as taking sides with their employer-, 
and acting the part of a traitor to my 
own class." 

"And if the order comes to strike?" 
queried Martha. 

"I shall obey it, of course. To do any- 
thing else would be like trying to stem 
the tide of Niagara. If it was merely 
the local Union one had to withstand, 
resistance would be possible ; but behind 
every subordinate Union stands the Na- 
tional Union, and simply to attempt 
resistance would be to be ground between 
the upper and nether millstones. You 
know T don't mean to go back on what I 
have always said." added Nelson, struck 
by a sudden sense of incongruity which 
he felt that the keen-witted Martha 
would be sure fo note. "Some people call 
this depotism ; I don't. I grant that the 
National Union wields a tremendous 
power, but it is only what the workingman 
needs to counterbalance the money power 
of the capitalist. I grant, too. that like 
other kinds of power it is liable to abuse 
and incidental disadvantages. A locomo- 
tive is an excellent thing, but it some- 
times runs off the track. So is a steam- 
boat, but it sometimes bursts its boil< 
and then we have an investigation, and 
a verdict of criminal carel or 

ignorance, or incompetence, on the part 



20 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



May, 1921. 



of somebody or other; but no one sug- 
gests that we had better go back to stages 
and sailboats." 

Martha knew better than to hint that 
all this elaborate and uncalled-for display 
of argument was a confession of weak- 
ness; an attempt to convince himself 
rather than her; and Nelson continued 
after a moment's silence: 

"Of course I have my private reasons 
for not desiring a strike just now. My 
board will be paid by the Union, and 
something additional for Tom's support, 
but in his present state he has to have a 
good many things in the way of food 
and medicine that would not be taken 
into the account. If the strike is long 
continued I shall have to fall back on the 
money I have laid up. The result will 
be a "'longer deferring of our marriage 
and the spoiling of a good many of my 
plans. Still I dont want to look at the 
matter selfishly, as if my own interest 
was the only thing to be considered. If 
Jacksonville could have been carried for 
no-license last fall, I shouldn't mind the 
strike half so much. The new mayor 
may talk temperance as much as he . 
pleases; I don't trust him. He was 
elected by liquor votes, and when a pinch 
comes he won't dare offend the party to 
whom he owes his office. So this is the 
way the few govern the many. I was 
foolish enough once to suppose that the 
majority ruled, but I'm beginning to 
change my mind." 

It will be observed that in thus declaim- 
ing against the liquor oligarchy, while he 
patiently submitted to the ordering of a 
few irresponsible lafee leaders, Nelson 
was straining at a gnat and swallowing 
a camel in the sweetly unconscious fash- 
ion of our inconsistent humanity gen- 
erally. . 

"I know I was terribly disappointed 
with the results of the last election," said 
Martha, thoughtfully ; "and I don't think 
I felt quite right about it till Mrs. Havi- 
land talked to us so beautifully at our 
last W. C. T. U. meeting. She gave us 
a Bible reading from the eighty-first 
psalm, dwelling especially on the seventh 
verse : T answered thee in the secret place 
of thunder ; I proved thee at the waters 
of Meribah.' She said some among us 
coukl look back to the days of the Cru- 
sades when we were small and weak, 



with no weapon but prayer, and remem- 
ber how gloriously God answered us 'in 
his secret place of thunder.' Now we 
are an army with banners marching in 
to possess the land. If he allowed the 
wicked a momentary triumph it was only 
to prove us as he proved Israel at the 
waters of Meribah. We must put down 
every feeling of discouragement and rest 
patiently in the promises; and when we 
had thus prepared the way for him in 
our hearts we should see his salvation. 
Nelson, I held my breath while she was 
speaking. I am not a perfectionist, I 
don't believe the best of us live without 
sinning, yet I could never see a single 
human weakness in that woman. I re- 
member reading somewhere that refiners 
of silver consider the process finished 
when the metal perfectly reflects the 
face of the person who bends over the 
crucible. I always think of that when I 
see Mrs. Haviland and remember what 
she has gone through. I never look at 
her nor hear her speak without gaining 
a more vivid and personal conception of 
Christ himself, as a real, living, ever- 
• present Saviour." 

Nelson did not answer for a moment, 
and then he said with a sigh, "I suppose 
I ought to have a stronger faith, Martha ; 
but I believe women are always more 
gifted in that line than men." 

"Well, you see it gave me a kind of 
new revelation. I went away from the 
meeting perfectly satisfied. I hate this 
dreadful business as much as ever, and 
my heart is just as sore over the misery 
it causes ; but I know God hates it worse 
than I can and pities its victims infinitely 
more. And I feel so sure the day is 
hastening when he will answer the pray- 
ers of the souls crying under the altar 
that I am willing to see the politicians 
play their little game a while longer. I 
am even willing to see the beauties of 
'high license' illustrated in Jacksonville 
the coming year." 

"High fiddlesticks," said Nelson, "I 
believe it is worse in one sense than the 
free, unlicensed sale, for it is a greater 
swindle and delusion. A few of the 
smaller fry among the saloon-keepers 
will have to go under, but that will only 
make better standing room for the others. 
This compromising with evil, I hate. I 



May, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



21 



want the lines sharply drawn. If there 
are but a handful on the right side and 
God with us, I don't care. Let it be war 
with the liquor traffic, and war to the 
knife; but for heaven's sake none of 
these disgraceful, halting compromises 
that only make the evil worse." 

"Precisely my sentiments, Mr. New- 
hall; but how is Tom today?" 

"I think he is improving. He's cer- 
tainly stronger and don't cough near so 
much. I have been careful not to give 
him liquor in his medicines in even the 
smallest quantity, and since his sickness 
he has seemed to show no desire for it. 
All will be well if his appetite for drink 
can be kept dormant. But, O Martha, 
just think for a moment what this dread- 
ful traffic in human misery has done for 
me and mine ! How it has orphaned us, 
crushed the mind of my v only brother, 
and made me a stranger to my own sis- 
ter! 

Nelson spoke bitterly ; but, reader, put 
yourself in the place of this young work- 
man as he looked back over his shadowed 
childhood and sorrowful youth, and re- 
membered that the very government 
under which he was born had made itself 
a party to his wrongs. 

"Nelson," said Martha, taking up her 
pocket Bible, "let me read you something 
that has comforted me a great many 
times when everything looked all wrong 
and mixed up. 'Fret not thyself because 
of evil-doers, neither be thou envious 
against the workers of iniquity. For they 
soon shall be cut down like the grass 
and wither as the green herb. Trust in 
the Lord and do good ; so shalt thou 
dwell in the land and verily thou shalt 
be fed.' " 

Nelson's brow cleared. It seemed so 
like his mother's own voice that he felt 
a strange calm enwrap his soul as she 
read. The eternal rock of God's right- 
eousness stood firm; what was human 
wrong and injustice but passing waves 
that dashed against its immovable base 
to be swept into the tide of the yester- 
days, and leave not a trace behind on his 
grand tomorrow, when there shall be a 
new heaven and a new earth ; but no 
more sea, no angry whirlpool of oppos- 
ing moral issues, but for every great and 
burning question that agitates the na- 



tions today a final, irrevocable settlement 
by the laws of everlasting Right. 

"Thank you, Martha," he said when 
she finished. "It has done me good." 

The next day — it was about two weeks 
before New Years — the order came to 
strike. It was a cold, cloudy morning, 
the call to work had just sounded, and 
the men were trooping in with their din- 
ner-pails, but in an hour the whole place 
was deserted and silent. A Napoleon 
might have envied the power which had 
only to issue its mandate and be thus 
obeyed. To be sure it is a power fraught 
with some danger — more particularly in 
a republic which asserts every fourth of 
July as its foundation doctrine, the 
sacred, inalienable rights of the individ- 
ual citizen, which would seem to include 
among other things the right to sell his 
own work at his own price. 

During the day the men gathered in 
little groups and talked over the situation. 
There were rumors of a compromise. It 
was said that the employers had ex- 
pressed themselves willing to make cer- 
tain concessions if met half way, and 
were conferring to this end with a com- 
mittee from the Union. The result was 
awaited hopefully by some. Others, in 
whom was working the socialistic leaven, 
were less anxious for a peaceful settle- 
ment of the difficulty. Nelson found 
himself in the course of the day in the 
midst of one of these groups. 

"Newhall don't believe in strikes ; 
thinks the manufacturers ought to be 
allowed to make their pile of money and 
grind us working men into the dirt," was 
the greeting that fell on his ears as he 
came up. Nelson happened to know the 
speaker very well, and thought this a 
good chance to prove to his fellow-work- 
men that he held opinions of an exactly 
opposite tenor to those imputed to him. 
"Now be fair," he said good-humor- 
edlv, "and let me tell you what I really 
do think. Granted that every manu- 
facturer in the country is making his 
money unjustly, don't that money go to 
create more capital? Ami how can cut- 
ting off the fountain which supplies us 
with our wages make us any better off? 
It is playing a game in which we have 
hardly one chance in a thousand oi com- 
ing out ahead. But I don't believe, and 



22 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



May, 1921. 



I want you to understand that I don't 
believe, in tamely submitting to wrong. 
I am only talking against the kind of 
resistance that bounds back on ourselves 
and leaves us worse off than we were 
before. What hinders us working men 
from putting our money and brains 
together and running factories and shops 
and mills on our own account? Now 
there would be a kind of resistance based 
on justice and common sense." 

"What hinders us? Hain't these mon- 
eyed rascals got the staff in their own 
hands? and don't they mean to keep it 
there?" 

"How did they get it in the first place?'' 
asked Nelson, coolly. "Most of our rich 
men began life with hardly a cent. Now 
I think it is a pity if three or four hun- 
dred working men, if- they are sober, 
industrious and skillful at their trade, 
can't be equal to at least one capitalist." 

"That's all fool's talk," growled the 
leader in the group, a man of German 
parentage, but American born and bred. 
"The power is all on the side of the rich, 
and there's got to be a revolution, a 
turning upside down of society before 
things will be righted." 

"But just remember," answered Nel- 
son, good-naturedly, "that when this gen- 
eral overturning comes on if you and I 
should happen to be under the heap it 
might be awkward for us. Volcanoes 
and earthquakes may be necessary things, 
but it always seemed to me that I had a 
little rather keep out of their range. The 
fact is, Schumacher, you have read these 
papers that talk as if American working 
men were all in a state of serfdom till 
you have begun to believe it. It is no 
such thing. Not a capitalist under heaven 
could 'grind us into the dirt' if we all 
understood as we ought to that labor 
has got a vantage ground of its own. 
Our numbers are our defenced city, and, 
to make it as impregnable as Gibralter, 
we only need intelligence, sobriety, econ- 
omy, and I am going to add, though I 
know you have thrown both these things 
overboard, faith in God and hope in a 
hereafter." 

"Hang your religious rubbish. What 
do we know about a hereafter, whether 
we shall be nothing or start up cabbages." 

"For my part," responded Nelson, "I 
had rather a good honest cabbage should 



spring from my dust and that be the 
end of me than to go into the other 
world weighed down with all the ras- 
calities and meannesses that some men 
have to carry with them, and if your 
belief helps to make life more cheerful, 
why I am glad. It would have just the 
opposite effect on me. But we are wan- 
dering wide of the question. What hin- 
ders us working men? What is the foe 
in the rear that is always hanging on the 
skirts of the great army of labor? It is 
these thousands on thousands of legalized 
dramshops scattered over the country. 
So long as we are content to keep an 
army of lazy saloonists living on the fat 
of the land there is no sense nor reason 
in our cursing capitalists. 

Two of the men laughed. The third 
one looked thoughtful. The fourth mem- 
ber of the party, which was Schumacher, 
shrugged his shoulders. 

"We are not Grand Moguls. Liquor 
will be sold and drank for all us." 

"So it will while we allow it. As a 
class we hold the soverign power in our 
own hands, and if, instead of listening 
to political demagogues every election, 
each working man would make his ballot 
a straight shot at the rum power, I war- 
rant that it wouldn't be a great while 
before our Senators and Representatives 
at Washington would get some new light 
on the subject. Better read over again 
the fable of Hercules and the wagoner. 
If we working men are ever to improve 
our condition the help must come from 
ourselves first. And it w r on't come by 
sitting still and railing against the rich. 
If they oppress us the worst is their 
own, but at the least they give us work 
and wages. What does the liquor power 
do for us ? Cripples and paralyzes every 
single industry by which we earn our 
bread. Let us roll that burden from our 
shoulders and then labor will be pre- 
pared to resist the tyranny of capital to 
some purpose." 

But talk like this was making Nelson 
unpopular, for though his fellow-work- 
men dimly realized that he stood on a 
higher mental plane than the most of 
them; had read more, thought more, 
and observed more — still there were 
many, as he told Martha, who construed 
his words into a tacit desertion of their 



May, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



23 



cause, and turned the cold shoulder on 
him in consequence. 

He went back to his boarding-place 
feeling as if it was a strange new kind. 
of Sunday without the Sabbath peace 
and spirit of devotion. Tom was sitting 
in his old place coughing feebly, and 
watching with dull, vacant gaze a belated 
fly that was slowly and stiffly buzzing 
about in a streak of cold, white sunshine. 

Outwardly Tom bore a much closer 
resemblance to his mother than either 
of the two others. As nature had given 
him at the start a much weaker physical 
frame than the stalwart Xelson, so she 
had cast his features in a proportionately 
liner mould ; and the epileptic fits which 
had fastened on him in childhood, the 
result of that injury to the brain received 
from his father's drunken blow, however 
they might dim his intellect could not 
wholly mar the original beauty of the 
chiseling. 

"Well. Tom, old fellow!" was Nelson's 
cheery greeting: "I'm going to stay with 
you all day. What, do you say to that ? 
It seems good to see the sun coming out. 
Let me wheel your chair into it." 

Xelson had devoted himself heart and 
soul to his unfortunate brother without 
the least idea that he was doing anything 
very noble, or worthy of particular re- 
mark. There are natures that seem to 
be morally "born in the purple," and 
the most unlimited drafts on their gen- 
erous self-devotion are honored at first 
sight with the confidence of one who has 
in his soul a whole royal exchequer to 
draw from. 

So he had fought Tom's battles with a 
rude and scornful world, and no wonder 
that he seemed to the latter a perfect 
incarnation of wisdom and strength. 
Tom stood somewhat in fear of him, it 
is true, but it was that kind of fear which 
we are told in Scripture is not inconsist- 
ent with the highest love; and when his 
fit of coughing subsided, he showed 
Xelson with much delight a newspaper 
on which he gravely marked with his 
forefinger a length of about two columns 
and a half. To make believe read was 
one of Toms amusements, and Xelson 
always humored him by taking the mat- 
ter very seriously. 

"All that this morning! You've done 
bravely, Tom, since I've been gone. I'm 



thinking you'll be lots of help to me when 
I get my farm." 

Tom smiled contentedly. That farm 
was his Eldorado. His feeble mind made 
his anticipations of its freedom, plenty 
and varied delights like a child's a pl< 
tire from which all elements of care, 
worry, or possible disappointment were 
entirely eliminated. Though Nelson did 
not now feel in just the mood for such 
castle-building, he went over the - 
again for Tom's amusement, and when 
he could think of no further enlarge- 
ments or additions that could be truth- 
fully made to it. he began to sing in a 
melodious, baritone voice — 

"On Jordan's stomy banks I stand 

And cast a wishful eye. 
To Canaan's fair and happy land, 
Where my possessions lie." 

In singing to Tom he generallv chose 
old-fashioned hymns. They chimed in 
best with his strong, thoughtful, earnest, 
nature; and they reminded him. besides, 
of his mother. How she used to satisfy 
the hunger of her homesick heart with 
Watt's grand old lyrics ! 

When he reached the last line of the 
hymn Tom was asleep. Xelson got up, 
poked the fire a little, and then took the 
newspaper which Tom had dropped. He 
looked over the usual list of murders, 
wife-beatings, and brutal assaults in 
which, strangely enough, high-licensed 
whiskey appears to be just as prolific as 
the more plebian sort which lacks that 
peculiar stamp of respectability; and 
then he passed to the column headed. 
"Labor Troubles." Everywhere there 
seemed to be an epidemic of strike-. In 
the coal-fields Molly Maguirism was 
cropping out. and the whole industrial 
world appeared to be generally in a state 
of upheaval and disturbance. 

Xelson took a pencil and figured up mi 
the white margin something like a rough 
approximation to the sum lost by labor 
per week. Startling as were the figure-. 
he knew he had under-rated the factor- 
by which he had obtained this result. 

And what of that vast sum lost every 
year by the liquor traffic? Xelson was 
enough of a political economist to under- 
stand with Adam Smith that the one 
great law on which all equitable trad< 
built is the law o\ corresponding values ; 
in other words, that value taken must 



24 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



May, 1921. 



always mean value received in something 
of direct profit or service to the buyer. 
And when the liquor business ignores 
utterly this underlying law in political 
economy, this rule of reciprocal giving 
and taking, and decrees that all the 
profit and advantage shall be on one 
side only, can such mischievous violation 
of so fundamental a principle help react- 
ing disastrously on trade? Is it not 
laying a hand on the very main-spring 
of every lawful industry? and must not 
the legitimate fruits be dull times, pov- 
erty, distress, and that remedy worse 
than the disease — strikes? 

And what of the liquor power as a 
ruling force in government? Did not 
every election prove that its immense 
wealth was simply a bribery fund? To 
this corrupt and corrupting factor in 
politics with its hundreds of millions an- 
nually stolen from the people, could 
anything be said to be impossible in the 
way of chicanery and fraud? One wrong 
fostered, one injustice upheld made 
room for others to gather their foul 
brood under the same broad shield of 
national law; and legislative integrity 
thus sapped, on what could the poor man 
base any reasonable hope q£ being pro- 
tected from the greed of unscrupulous 
money kings and soulless corporations? 

Nelson wanted to confront the ques- 
tion fairly. He believed he had done so, 
when in reality he had seen but one side 
of this double-faced Janus. 

CHAPTER XI. 

WHICH TREATS OF MATTERS HISTORICAL 
AND PROPHETIC. 

At this juncture we perceive a growing 
restlessness among some of our readers. 
Countless voices are raised in defence of 
their own pet insurance society, and 
learned college professors hope we shall 
not be so unwise and unjust as to include 
their beloved Greek letter fraternities in 
the same condemnation. And as many 
of these good people take pains to assure 
us that they are opposed to Masonry; 
that they have some adequate idea of its 
ability to corrupt the courts, paralyze 
the hand of justice, and shield every mur- 
derer, rumseller, or bank defaulter who 
puts his trust in its shadow, we will stop 
the thread of our story long enough to 
relate a certain episode in the career of 



Napoleon, which, though unfamiliar to 
the average student, was one of those 
hidden factors of Providence which 
bring about the mysterious and un- 
looked-for results that so often baffle 
human calculations. 

At the very threshold of his conquests, 
at the very moment when his hand was 
stretched out to grasp imperial power, 
he met, like the heroes of Greek story, 
a dragon to stay his farther progress. 
That dragon was Freemasonry. Masonic 
lodges covered alike Protestant Germany 
and Catholic Spain. Under their mask 
aristocrat and anarchist, free-thinker 
and Jesuit, could plot together in a hor- 
rible unity — the unity of the pit. Already 
it had overthrown the Puritan common- 
wealth in England, and lighted in Paris 
the lurid flames of the French Revolu- 
tion. 

« Two courses lay open before him. He 
could grapple with the monster — crush, 
annihilate it if possible; or he could 
make it his tool, his slave, his faithful 
ally. The "Man o| Destiny," whom 
neither Alps nor Russian snows could 
daunt, and at the tread of whose armed 
hosts all Europe was shaking in terror, 
quailed before the first alternative and 
chose the second. At his dictation his 
own trusted generals and marshals enter- 
ed the various lodges, became their 
leaders, and controlled them completely 
in the interests of imperialism till St. 
Helena ended the drama. 

It was not the first time that Masonry 
has been paid in her own coin, nor will 
it be the last that this spiritual sorceress 
in her trade of duping and fooling men 
has been made herself the dupe and fool 
of crowned and mitred heads. This 
shrewd stroke of Napoleonic policy was 
only a slight variation of her own fav- 
orite game, and one which she is now 
playing in our own free Columbia with 
much success. 

Odd- fellowship and the hundreds of 
minor secret orders she officers with her 
own most tried and trusted generals, and 
has no desire — indeed would have the 
greatest objection to see the rank and file 
turn Masons. She well knows that they 
make far more tractable subjects as they 
are. Vowed to obey unquestioningly 
Masonic superiors, and those superiors 
sworn in turn to obey all above them in' 



May, 1921 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



25 



continual gradations till the apex is 
reached at the top of which sits the com- 
mander-in-chief in the shape of a most 
Sublime and Illustrious Soverign Grand 
Inspector General, we can easily see how 
with only the bridle of a minor temper- 
ance order the whole body can be turned 
about in any given — Masonic — direction. 

The strike continued, with no prospect 
of a speedy end; and many of the work- 
men found their unoccupied hours 
dragged less heavily if passed in some 
place of common resort. Unluckily 
there were enough saloons left in Jack- 
sonville to supply that want ; and they 
furnished precisely the soil needed for 
the sprouting of socialistic tares, though 
the previously mentioned "Union agent," 
having finished his seed sowing, had 
some time before left for "pastures new." 
The saloon-keepers, warned by the popu- 
lar storm which had so nearly wrecked 
their business, and with some little fear 
of the W. C. T. U., practiced more cir- 
cumspection and more secrecy; but bar- 
rooms fitted up underground may be as 
favorable gathering-places as the cave 
of Adullam for "every one that is dis- 
contented" with the prevailing order of 
society; and it is certain that over the 
fiery potations there dealt out strange 
threats were sometimes uttered, and the 
speeches of noted communistic leaders 
quoted with a gusto that would have 
been far from pleasant to peaceful and 
law-abiding ears. 

"I believe there is more drink sold in 
Jacksonville now than before the strike," 
said Nelson to Martin Treworthy one 
morning in the latter part of February. 
"What is our 'temperance' mayor about?" 

"Fulfilling his Masonic obligations," 
growled Martin. "Liquor men and Good 
Templars voted together £or him last 
fall, so now he's got to be "all things to 
all men' in a sense the Apostle Paul 
never dreamed of. But then it comes 
tolerably easy to a man that has taken a 
dozen or two of Masonic degrees." 

"The strike ought to have been at an 
end long ago," said Nelson, choosing to 
ignore this explanation of the case. "I 
know men that were steady and indus- 
trious before it happened, and now they 
spend in drink half the money allowed 
them by the Union to support their fam- 
ilies. It is ruinous, it is suicidal — this 



long, fruitless strife in which nothing is 
gained and everything lost on the side 
least capable of bearing loss. It is the 
ambition and selfishness of men like 
Gerrish and Reynolds that is prolonging 
this state of affairs, and I've about made 
up my mind to break with the Union 
entirely if I've got to be under such 
leaders." 

A -dry smile curled Martin's lips. He 
was not at all averse to seeing this young 
Hercules of labor chafe under his lodge 
fetters. Perhaps Nelson did not see the 
smile. He went on. 

"They have stood from the first of it 
right in the w r ay of any adjustment of the 
difficulty. The manufacturers were 
ready for a compromise long ago, that 
the majority of the men — I for one — 
would have been willing to accept. Here 
we are losing money and time, and suf- 
fering all the demoralizing influences that 
come from idleness. But what do these 
men care for that? They don't want to 
see the wrongs of labor righted. It is 
for their interest to keep up this strife 
and contention. It is the way they get 
their living. They are too lazy to work, 
and to beg they are ashamed, but they 
manage someway to get all the offices 
themselves, and wear their kid gloves 
and draw their comfortable salaries, and 
we working men must submit to their 
tyranny." 

The reader may perhaps remember that 
Nelson had once himself innocently in- 
formed Martin Treworthy that the 
leaders of the Union were generally 
Masons or Odd-fellows. But the latter 
made no allusion to this fact as furnish- 
ing a possible key to the mystery of these 
easy berths. Experience was beginning 
to teach Nelson a good many truths be- 
fore unheeded, and he was quite willing 
to leave him for awhile to the tutelage of 
this stern instructor. 

"The fact is they represent no interests 
but their own, and I don't wonder the 
manufacturers refuse to treat with 
them. I should in their place. 1 heard 
today that the works were going to start 
up next week with a large force of non- 
union laborers, and if the new hands 
can't be intimidated or bought off there 
will be trouble. I see it and feci it." 
(To be continued.) 



26 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



May, 1921. 



YOUR BAWLING OUT. 

Do you shameless heathens who belone 
to "secret societies" know that there is a 
publication which is devoted exclusively 
to bawling you out? Well, there is. 
Christian Cynosure, 850 West Madi- 
son street, Chicago, is a little monthly 
magazine, established fifty-three years 
ago. which endeavors to convince its 
readers that Satan is the original rigger- 
up of all rituals. He's the guy that in- 
spired secret grips and passwords. Inci- 
dentally, the National Christian Associa- 
tion, which publishes the Christian 
Cynosure, also publishes books which 
"expose" fraternal societies, from the 
Modern Woodmen to the Masons and' 
Knights of Columbus. Besides picking 
up a little change in the sale of bogus 
rituals (if they were not bogus, the pub- 
lishers would be prosecuted under copy- 
right lazes), the association sends out 
lecturers, distributes tracts and other- 
wise keeps the lodges from putting the 
country on the bum.— Editorial, The 
Kablcgram. 



Jtetog of <®wx Horfe 



GOD. 

Scientists and learned men of letters 
and affairs are becoming less intemperate 
in their sweeping "higher criticism." 
They are sensibly conceding that, to hu- 
manity in its present stage, any old kind 
of a God is better than none at all. 

Of course, we have quite an array of 
'gods in our country and to the adherents 
of each all the others are funny; but we 
are awakening to the danger of every- 
body knocking the other fellow's god. 
You see, with everybody running down 
the other fellow's religion, all religions 
are being put on the bum, whereas if 
every fellow laid off on his neighbors' 
religious assininity and sawed wood in 
his own congregation there would be 
nothing but boosting for all the gods. — 
From Editorial in The Kablegram. 



This editorial on "God" gives a fair 
estimate of the religious character of the 
writer and is an explanation of his reck- 
less statement about the "bogus rituals" 
in the editorial "Your Bawling Out." 
Evidently the ninth commandment (Ex. 
20:16) isn't a part of his religion. 



EASTERN SECRETARY'S REPORT. 

Rev. W. B. Stoddard. 
. This finds me at work on the Iowa 
prairie. Farms are large and becoming 
more beautiful as Spring advances. The 
people are not all happy for the financial 
situation is very depressing. I am told 
last year's crop remains largely unsold 
with low prices offered. Eggs at this 
time are bought for twenty cents per 
dozen or less. The April showers are 
coming and we may look for the May 
flowers. The trying situation of many 
does not seem to increase piety. The 
"drive" appears to be in opposite direc- 
tion. The papers indicate that there is 
a rushing on in folly and sin as never 
before. There is crying need for work- 
ers in our line. Some are always helped 
by a kindly presentation of the truth. 

The Iowa State officers have worked 
hard, and friends have co-operated in 
the effort to make the best possible use 
of my time. State Treasurer TVIaring at 
whose home I now write, has done splen- 
didly in arranging together with State 
President Malcolm for my meetings. 
The month has but half gone but I find 
I have delivered fourteen addresses thus 
far. They have been largely in the 
Christian Reformed and Reformed 
churches. My reception has been kindly 
and support commendable. Details will 
be furnished both the National and 
Iowa State associations. 

I hurried through my New York and 
New Jersey work that I might spend a 
few days at home before coming West. 
The meeting in the Midland Park, New 
Jersey Christian Reformed church was 
well supported as had been anticipated. 
While in Paterson, New Jersey I listen- 
ed to a very forceful address by Rev. 
Leonard Trap delivered before the 
Young Men's Association. He showed 
that the size of the pay envelope did not 
measure the success of the man in life. 
Visits were made to several points in 
and around Chicago. At Wheaton, Il- 
linois, I attended sessions of a most stir- 
ring Missionary Conference conducted 
by workers of the Christian and Mission- 



May, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



27 



ary Alliance. I made a brief address in 
Wheaton before the students. They are 
a live company and the college reports a 
prosperous year. 

Proceeding towards the Iowa work I 
stopped on the Illinois side of the Missis- 
sippi and gave three messages in Fulton. 
The attendance on Sabbath April third, 
was especially large. Many spoke of 
having received new light and help. At 
Parkersburg, Wellsburg, Grundy Center, 
and Ackley, Iowa I filled the appoint- 
ments made for me in the Christian Re- 
formed churches. I found a fine appear- 
ing student body at the Grundy Center 
College and was privileged to address 
them for over an hour's time. Inquiries 
indicated much interest. I regret it is 
here impossible to even mention many 
who showed me personal kindness for 
my work's sake. May the Lord reward 
them. 

Having time at Iowa Falls where I 
changed cars, I sought any who might 
have an interest in our work. A good 
brother spoke of his concern because of 
the recent endorsement of the De Molay 
training of the young men by a brother- 
hood composed of members of different 
city churches. When they were asked to 
endorse this society, he called attention 
to its Masonic character. The society 
however was endorsed without much dis- 
cussion. Naturally he had fears for the 
evil consequences which will be realized. 
As the Cynosure has pointed out this so- 
ciety is to train young men to become 
Masons. Last Sabbath was spent in Des 
Moines. There I addressed young peo- 
ple of the Swedish Lutheran church and 
an evening audience in the Friends 
Church. The N. C. A. Convention held 
there last year was commended. Pas- 
tors and others were cordial. The gath- 
ering Monday evening at Prairie City in 
the Church was helpful. The pastor of 
the M. E. Church gave as his reason for 
refusal to unite with the lodge, his ob- 
servation of some who are connected 
with it who were not Christian brothers. 

Much preparation is being made for a 
gathering of the Mystic Shriners at Des 
Moines in June. Last evening's meeting 
was at- Leighton, to-night at Otley, to- 
morrow evening at Pella. The Sabbath 
(17th) goes to the Free Methodist 
Church at Oskaloosa and Monday even- 



ing to the Friends Church at Albia. 
Washington, Iowa, wants a lecture next 
Thursday evening, and others are being 
arranged for, I am told. Our efforts are 
to center in the State Meeting to be held 
in the Reformed Presbyterian Church at 
Morning Sun the 26th and 27th, a reporl 
of which may be expected in the June 
Cynosure. May God keep us all true, 
that we may labor on and "so much the 
more as we see the day approaching." 

Otley, Iowa. 

April 14, 1921. 



"LIZZIE WOODS' LETTER." 

Omaha, Nebraska, April 13, 1921. 
Dear Cynosure : 

I have been attending a great revival 
at the Zion Baptist Church. There was 
an evangelist from Chicago in charge of 
the meetings. He taught many good 
things. One day he took up the lodge 
question showing what a great mistake 
the church made when she let lodge mem- 
bers into her fellowship. 

I looked at the pastor of the church 
while he was talking and I thought about 
Naaman (2 Kings 5 :i) : "Now Naaman 
captain of the host of the king of Syria 
was a great man with his master and 
honored by him, but he was a leper." 
This pastor is a great man but he is a 
Mason and many of his eight hundred 
members belong to some one or more of 
the different lodges. 

The evangelist showed what an awful 
shame it is for church members to be 
mixed up with the world in such 
ciations. The pastor kept silent. I 
thought, "It is a pity that the followers 
of Christ have, sold themselves to do 
evil." I can remember when the black 
man was released from slavery. He 
knew nothing about lodges and the neigh- 
bors would one and another take care of 
the sick and bury the dead ; but now men 
get together and make each other svveai 
the most awful and disgraceful oaths 
that the Devil can invent to do the same 
things they used to do freely. 

The Devil doesn't bother much as long 
as one doesn't touch the things that are 
carrying the masses of the people to lull. 
But this evangelist made the Devil mad. 
When men are sworn to have their 
throats cut from ear to ear they are de- 



28 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



May, 1921. 



veloping a sinful tendency that may af- 
fect their unborn children. Children 
seem sometimes to be born with murder 
in their hearts. Think of the Ku Klux 
Klan in the South in 1876. It reached 
farther than the black man for they final- 
ly began to whip and kill and beat any- 
one, white or black, that did not act to 
suit them. Now, what is the difference 
between members of the Ku Klux Klan 
and of the Masonic fraternity? They all 
swear to kill the fellow that is disobe- 
dient to them. When murderous tenden- 
cies are born in a child they will' develop 
in him as he grows older. Two little 
boys here in Omaha, five and eight years 
old, found a cave in the side of a hill and 
invited another five-year-old boy to go 
with them to the cave. So the little fel- 
low went with them and when they got 
him inside they told him to pull off his 
clothes and then they beat him unmerci- 
fully. The eight-year-old boy opened his 
knife and stabbed his little five-year-old 
victim all over and when they turned 
him loose he went home and fell at his 
mother's door weak from the loss of 
blood. Now murder is often in the hearts 
of the little ones. The sins of the par- 
ents are reproduced in the children. 
"They have cast lots for my people, and 
have given a boy for an harlot, and sold 
a girl for wine that they might drink" 

(Joel 3:3). 

Jesus said, "Swear not at all" 
(Matthew 5:34-35). "I spake openly to 
the world. I ever taught in the syna- 
gogues and whither the Jews always re- 
sort and in secret I have said nothing." 
Notice in John 8:11 Jesus said, "Go and 
sin no more." Many preachers say, "Go 
and sin some more; you can quit sin- 
ning when you come to die" ; and the 
most of my people believe what their 
preachers say. If they would say that 
God is a Mason the people would believe 
that with all their hearts. 

There is a revival campaign going on 
here in a certain church and the preacher 
told the sinners to come and join the 
church. He said, "You need not stop 
playing pool." He also said, "A man 
can drink whiskey and still be a Chris- 
tian," and "there is no harm in the 
lodges." Well, the people don't know 
what to do, because they don't read their 
Bibles. I labored to show a man what 



the Bible said and required. The, .man 
left after he had heard the Scripture ex- 
plained and told his friend that I was a 
fanatic. I said to the friend, "Yes, ev- 
erybody who wills to obey the Word of 
the Lord is a fanatic." I have found, 
since I have searched the Scriptures, that 
we must live by every word of God and 
whoever believes and receives it very 
likely will be called by the world "fana- 
tic." He said that I was an old crank. 
I replied, "I am glad to be a crank for a 
crank will turn, but a fool will not turn. 
The way of a fool is right in his own 
eyes but he that hearkeneth unto council 
is wise' (Prov. 12:15). Jesus said, in 
Matthew 4 '.4 : Tt is written, man shall 
not live by bread alone but by every 
word that proceedeth out of the mouth 
of God.' ' Now I may be called a fana- 
tic, or a crank, but that makes no differ- 
ence for I am in the service of God. 
Mrs. L. W. Roberson. 



LETTERS FROM OUR FRIENDS. 

An old time friend of the Cause, Mr. 
H. G. Tussey, of Pennsylvania, wrote 
recently : 

"In former years I was a patron of 
your paper and have never lost interest 
in the Cause you so loyally support and 
represent. When we want information 
we turn to those who know. The Grange 
in our town has been exerting every ef- 
fort to get our young people into it and 
the editor of the Pennsylvania Farmer 
says it has the facilities for inspiring to 
other and more specific organizations. 
The writer has challenged them to debate 
the following question : Resolved, That 
all secret, oath-bound societies are detri- 
mental to the best interests of mankind. 
I also requested them to procure the 
ablest defender of secret organizations 
available in order that we may get all the 
light possible. The challenge stated that 
the entire amount received from admis- 
sion fee should go towards feeding the 
starving Chinese. I am enclosing suffi- 
cient remittance to cover cost of litera- 
ture which will give me data for this de- 
bate. It is a time of great darkness and 
requires much faith." 



Another Pennsylvania friend, Thomas 
Schweitzer, renews his subscription for 



May, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



29 



two years and writes: "I cannot well do 
without the Christian Cynosure/' I 



Rev. E. A. Boehme, of Youngstown, 
Ohio, one of our loyal friends, writes: 
"Though the weakness of my eyes would 
justify me to cancel the subscription to 
the Cynosure, I renew it for the sake of 
the Cause." 



Our work is not confined to the United 
States only. Last month we sent a thou- 
sand tracts to a Christian worker in Eng' 
land. Not long ago we received a lettei* 
from a party in Scotland who orders a 
quantity of literature and also writes : 

"I received copies of your literature 
from a friend in Canada. Freemasonry 
is spreading to an alarming extent in 
this country, especially since the com- 
mencement of the 'Great War.' I suffer 
a good deal at their hands in a small way 
as I am able to expose their errors an({ 
fallacies and I am glad of the assistance 
which the two small books of yours have 
given me. I have made a few points on 
the origin of the craft which I do not see 
referred to, but I have followed on much 
the same lines as in your books, which 
are far more full and graphic than I am 
able to depict. I thought the system was 
bad, but I scarcely realized how utterly 
unjust and blasphemous it is until now." 



Dear Sir : 

The founders of The League of Na- 
tions had an idea that the nations would 
not make secret treaties and secret mili- 
tary alliances if the covenant said they 
mustn't, but the nations did it just the 
same. Lord Robert Cecil knew that 
surely, yet he is pained because the Coun- 
cil knew some secrets it doesn't want the 
assembly to know. 

When great personal, community, na- 
tional or international interests are at 
stake (and that is always) there is an 
urgent call for publicity, the antithesis 
of secrecy. I regard your work a very 
important one. 

Wishing you continued success, I re- 
main, yours for Christian Reforms, 

E. H. Parkinson, D. D. 

Delphos, Kas., April n, 1921. 



burg, Virginia, took place recently on the 
'question of the relative danger to this 
country from Catholicism and Masonry. 
We quote from a letter of April 3d: 
"Both sides were well discussed and 
many good points presented. There were 
three debaters on each side and was held 
before our Literary Society. The de- 
cision was in favor of the side claiming 
that Catholicism was the greatest menace. 
"I wish to thank you for the help that 
you gave me in selecting material con- 
cerning Masonry." 



From our good friend and helper, 
Prof. J. R. Millin of Knoxville College, 
Knoxville, Tennessee, the following en- 
couraging letter was received : 

"Mr. Kimball's open letter to Presi- 
dent Harding is a great letter. Like Mr. 
Ximball, I voted for Mr. Harding, and I 
am glad I did, but the President certainly 
needs the instruction so well presented in 
Mr. Kimball's letter. 

"Let us thank the Lord profoundly for 
'the remnant' with faith and red blood 
and heroism for the 'seven thousand' that 
have not bowed the knee to the lodge 
Baal. 'There were giants in those days.' 
And there are heroes even in these days 
of religious sloth and compromise and 
cowardice and all-around Bahaiism. 

"And the clear ringing voice in the 
wilderness will be heard after a while. 
If truth is worth while, the cause of the 
N. C. A. will some time go over the top. 
But today the church walks arm-in-ann 
with its most dangerous enemy — the 
lodge — and Satan smiles at his improb- 
able achievement in yoking together the 
impossible pair." 



A debate between two classes, English 
I and II, in the high school of Harris- 



In sending Prof. Millin some litera- 
ture, a copy of the "Threefold Indict- 
ment of Secret Orders" by Rev. Adam 
Murrman was included and we believe 
his comment on this booklet received re- 
cently will interest our readers. lie 
writes : 

"A 'Three-fold Indictment o\ Secret 
Orders' by Adam Murrman is one of the 
most powerful and most terrific and most 
masterly indictments of secret orders that 
I have yet seen. What Christian can 
read that tract and then join a lodge, or, 
if a member, can remain in the lodge for 



one day? 



30 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



May, 1921, 



"A copy of this tract should some time 
be placed in the hand of every preacher 
and every Christian worker in the land. 
Marion Lawrence, Lincoln McConnell, 
Billy Sunday, and the rest of the list — 
how Satan has hoodwinked them. 

"Say it is not less than an insult to 
God for the church to ask God for a 
revival in the church while the church 
hobnobs with its most uncompromising 
and dangerous enemy, namely, the secret 
lodge system. Revival? Verily, 'Elijah 
must first come' to Mt. Carmel again. 
The church must needs read for itself : 
'Be not deceived ; God is not fooled !' ,; 



On the 23rd of February "Satan's Foe- 
man," who, by the way, is a member of 
the N. C. A., attended a mass meeting of 
Christian workers in Kansas City, Mis- 
souri. The leader was a prominent clergy- 
man from New York and the subject for 
general discussion was "Freemasonry and 
the Church." Our friend, S. F., asked 
this question, "Would it not be a good 
plan for a pastor to furnish a blank form 
to each of his male members and require 
them to state at the end of each month 
how much each had spent for tobacco, 
theaters and to advance the interest of 
the lodges that exclude the name of 
Christ?" 

The leader ignored the reference to the 
lodge part of the question but intimated 
that he endorsed the idea and referred 
that form of service to the official mem- 
bers of each church. 



It is encouraging to receive such words 
as the following: 

"Creal Springs, 111. — The Cynosure 
comes as a light to my feet. — F. M. Tay- 
lor." 

"Grand Rapids, Mich,— I like the 
Christian Cynosure very well and en- 
joy especially the articles written on Free- 
masonry. — Rev. J. C. Wielhouwer." 

"Birmingham, Iowa. — Never lower 
vour standard for the truth. — A. M. 
Cole." 



Grand Forks, N. D., March 14, 1921. 
The Christian Cynosure, 

Chicago, 111. 
Gentlemen : 

Of the writing of checks there is no 
end, but I must have the Christian 
Cynosure so I am including among my 



many checks one in payment of my sub- 
scription to your magazine. 

A recent issue of the Literary Digest 
in giving us some important facts con- 
cerning the members of Harding's cabi- 
net, seems to find the only big undertaking 
in the life of Mr. Davis to be the re- 
organization of the Loyal Order of the 
Moose. What are we to expect from men 
who have nothing more than such feats 
to commend them? 

Wishing you God's blessing in your 
stand for the truth, I remain, 
Faithfully yours, 
Ernest O. Armburster. 



J. T. Cullor, Sabinal, Texas, writes: 
"The children of God must not entangle 
themselves with the institutions of the 
world, for if they do, they are not at the 
place where they can call on God in faith 
believing that they will be heard. But 
God has obligated Himself to hear His 
real children, who while in the world are 
not of the world. 'At that day ye shall 
know that I am in my Father, and ye in 
Me and I in you' (John 14:20)." 



Evangelist Jacob Funk of Pomona, 
California, writes : "I find the lodge very 
thoroughly intrenched in the churches of 
this town and the spirituality of the peo- 
ple at a very low ebb. Great evangelists 
find it exceedingly popular to have Ma- 
sonic night, Odd-Fellows' night, etc., be- 
cause of the fact that the church is not 
aroused makes it all the more necessary 
for individuals who have the light to be 
at their best. May God bless you." 



Our good friend, Ira L. Deal, a singing 
evangelist, wrote recently : "I had the 
privilege of speaking to some ministerial 
students of the Baptist College in Alton, 
Illinois, and I did not hesitate to warn 
them to shun the oath-bound secret so- 
cieties as they would a snake in the grass. 
Many came to me afterwards and thanked 
me for the testimony. Oh, that our min- 
isters might speak out against this pin 
that is damning the church of the living 
God. Of course, they will be persecuted 
when they do so, but what kind of Chris- 
tians are they if they are afraid to speak 
out against the sin for fear of persecu- 
tion? May God have mercy on them. 
May the Lord bless you in your good 



May, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



.31 



work is my prayer. * Pray for me each 
day." 



When ordering a supply of literature, 
Mrs. H. R. Wimberly, a Christian work- 
er in Louisiana, writes : "I am very 
anxious to get literature on the Order of 
the Eastern Star as this lodge is sweep- 
ing our town like a prairie fire. I shall 
always feel indebted to the National 
Christian Association, which is a force 
against the Masonic and other secret 
orders which are sapping the life from 
churches and unsettling the foundation 
of government." 



Mr. T. K. Bufkin, of Pasadena, Cali- 
fornia, for many years a co-worker of 
the N. C. A., writes : "Everything possi- 
ble is being done to drag our young peo- 
ple into the lodges and the prayer meet- 
ings show that they attend the lodge in- 
stead of the prayer meetings. The lodges 
are often held on Wednesday evening. 
Would to God somehow the awful curse 
could be stopped." 
FOR APRIL 



REPORT ON SECRET SOCIETIES. 

ADOPTED BY THE NORTH CAROLINA CON- 
FERENCE. 

Your Committee on Secrecy would re- 
spond as follows : 

First. We believe all salvation orig- 
inates in God and is ministered to man- 
kind through the atonement of Jesus 
Christ, and can be made effective to us 
only by the Holy Ghost. 

Second. We believe, therefore, all or- 
ganizations which assume to minister 
salvation independent of the work of the 
Holy Ghost and of the atonement made 
by Jesus Christ are both profane and 
wicked, and should be earnestly opposed 
by all who love the truth as revealed by 
the Word of God, and love God and 
humanity. 

Fourth. The whole principle of se- 
crecy is contrary to Him who affirmed of 
Himself, "in secret He had said nothing," 
that His disciples should proclaim upon 
the house-top what He had spoken in 
their ears, and that He was not to be 
found, notwithstanding all of the claims 
of false witnesses, either in the desert 
place or in the secret chamber. We be- 
lieve it to be the principle of the charter 
of Jesus Christ that all good is open for 



all men everywhere in every age of the 
world, and that none should be barred 
from any good thing because of age or 
health. 

Fifth. Secrecy claims to be benevolent, 
but according to the Bible, it is a selfish 
benevolence, only to those who are able 
to pay for what they receive some of 
them claim to be the good Samaritan ; 
but, like the priest and Gentile, they pass 
by on the other side. The hands are 
Esau's, but the voice is Jacob's. 

Sixth. We also declare that while we 
admit that some of the ends sought by 
secret societies may be good, we are 
forced to affirm according to all the prin- 
ciples of righteousness as revealed in the 
atonement made by Jesus Christ, that 
whatever may be the end aimed at, the 
method which must work in secret and 
behind closed doors, and revealed alone 
to those who have been initiated and who 
know some special sign or pass word, is 
wrong in the following respects : 

1. It seems to be a means of shielding 
the guilty. In a court in Tennessee we 
were present when a man was to be tried 
for the murder of an officer of the law. 
who had done his duty and was shot 
down by this vile wretch, and when the 
men were being examined for the jury, 
the question was asked, Are you a mem- 
ber of a certain order? And if not, they 
were turned down. Of course the man 
came clear. 

2. It causes people to have respect to 
persons, and that is forbidden by the 
Word of God. In view of the foregoing 
facts we hereby pledge ourselves to be 
loyal to God and the Wesleyan Methodist 
Church in opposition to secret societies, 
and to use all reasonable efforts to stem 
the tide of iniquity that sweeps with such 
a mad rush over the world at this time, 
and to seek to keep our own beloved 
Church from being taken captive by the 
monster of secrecy. 

Also, we believe that the foundation of 
all effective and righteous opposition to 
secret societies is found in a proper and 
faithful preaching of Jesus Christ and 
Him crucified. With all that in every 
place call upon the name of Jesus Christ, 
our Lord, both theirs and ours. (I. Cor. 
I :2.) Respectfully submitted. 

M. T. Hartsoe, Committee. 
— The Wesleyan Methodist, Jan. 26, 192 1. 



TREATISES, ADDRESSES, SERMONS AND TRACTS 



MODERN SECRET SOCIETIES. 

By Charles A. Blanchard, D. D., President 

Wheaton College, President National Christian As- 
sociation, Ex-President Sabhath Association of 
Illinois, etc. 

A brief treatise for busy people and especially 
intended for ministers and teachers. 

Part first answers objections and clears away 
the obstacles to a candid consideration of the 
fundamental questions involved. Part second 
treats of Freemasonry as the key to the whole 
subject. Part third relates to subsidiary organ- 
izations. — industrial, insurance, temperance and 
other ' lodges. Part fourth considers important 
questions growing out of this discussion. 320 
pages. Cloth, $1.25; paper, 75 cents. 

FOLLY, EXPENSE AND DANGER OF SE- 
CRET SOCIETIES. 

By Charles A. Blanchard, President of Whea- 
ton College. They may be rudely classified as 
religious ; e. g., the Jesuits, Freemasonry, Oddfel- 
lowship, the Knights of Pythias, etc. ; political, ap 
the Know-Nothings, Knights of the Golden Circle 
the Order of American Deputies, the Ku K\x$s 
Klan, the White League, etc. ; industrial, as tht 
unions of carpenters, bricklayers, conductors, en 
gineers, etc. ; insurance, as the Royal Arcanum, t\ 
Modern Woodmen, the Order of the Iron Hall, tl* 
Order of United American Mechanics, etc. ; an'o 
social, as the college fraternities. 5 cents. 

WAS WASHINGTON A iVLASONT 

By President Charles A. Blanchard. This 
is the best contribution yet written on the 
question of Washington's relation to Free- 
masonry. 10 cents. 

MODERN PROPHETS OF BAAL. 

Or, Watchmen on Zion's Walls. By President 
C. A. Blanchard. A tract for ministers. "If 
we say Lord to any one who is not God, then 
we are worshippers of Baal, and if we, who are 
religious teachers, call any one Lord except the 
true God, then we are prophets of Baal." It 
shows the real relation of Masonic ministers to 
a heathen system, and gives the reasons why 
Christian preachers become prophets of Baal. 

In the appendix is a chapter on Masonic The- 
ology, taken from Mackey's "Masonic Ritualist"; 
and also "A Word to Bible Students," by Dean 
J. M. Gray. D. D., of the Moody Bible Institute. 
32 oages. Postpaid, 5 cents a copy; per hundred, 
$3.00. 

MASONIC TEMPLES. 

A clear discussion of the religion of Masonry, 
by Pres. C. A. Blanchard. Contents: What is a 
Temple? Not Other Religions But the Christian 
Religion. The Lodge Bible Not the Christian 
Bible. The Masonic Religion Not the Christian 
Religion. Who or What is the Masonic God? 
The Roman Pantheon. Lodge Morals and Chris- 
tian Morals. 32 pages. 5 cents. $3.50 per hun- 
dred. 

THE WORSHIP OF SECRET SOCIETIES 
OFFERED TO SATAN. 

Address by President Blanchard at the An- 
nual Convention of the National Christian Asso- 
ciation, May 15, 1902. 

The Mother of Secret Societies not Jesuitism, 
but Masonry. The Governing Force is Masonry. 
The Greatest Masons are Our Teachers. Is Free- 
masonry a Religion? Is the Masonic Religion Chris- 
tian? What Kind of Religion is It? Marks of 
Demon Worship. Our Duty. 24 pages ; post- 
paid. 5 cents a copy, or $1.00 per hundred. 

FRATERNITIES IN STATE SCHOOLS. 

By Pres. C. A. Blanchard. A discussion uf 
the relation of fraternities to «pV>nni<i suppnrtH 
by taxation. 16 pages; postpaid^ 5 cents a copy; 
a package of 12 for 30 cents. 



FINNEY ON MASONRY, 

"The Character, Claims and Practical Work' 
lngs of Freemasonry." By Ex-President Charles 
G. Finney, of Oberlin College. President Finney 
was a "bright Mason," but left the lodge when 
he became a Christian. This book has opened 
the eyes of multitudes. Cloth, $1.25; paper, 75 
cents. 

WASHINGTON, LINCOLN AND THEIR CO- 
PATRIOTS OPPOSED TO SECRET SO- 
CIETIES. 

This booklet contains fifteen portraits of 
3tatesmen and their testimonies vindicating them 
from any charge of adherence to secret societies. 
10 cents. 

AMERICAN FREEMASONRY 

"A Study in American Freemasonry," based 
upon Pike's "Morals and Dogma of the Ancient 
and Accepted Scottish Rite," "Mackey's Masonic 
Ritualist," "The Encyclopaedia of Freemason- 
ry" and other American masonic standard 
works. By Arthur Preuss, Editor of the Cath- 
olic Fortnightly Review. Among the chapters 
in this book are: "Is American Masonry a Re- 
ligion?" "The God of American Freemasonry," 
"American Freemasonry and the Kabbalistic 
Jehovah," "American Freemasonry and the Bi- 
ble," "Masonic Morality," etc. Cloth, 433 pages. 
Price $1.50 net. By mail $1.65. 

GRAND LODGE VS. JUDGE WHITNEY. 

Jmdge Daniel H. Whitney was Master of Bel 
videre Masonic Lodge,* No. 60 (Illinois), when S, 
L. Keith, a member cf his lodge, murdered Ellen 
Slade. Judge Whitney, by attempting to bring 
Keith to justice, brought on himself the ven- 
geance of the lodge ; but he boldly replied to the 
charges against him, and afterwards renounced 
Masonry. 15 cents. 

FREEMASONRY: An Interpretation. 

1 By Martin L. Wagner, pastor of St. Johns 
English Evangelical Lutheran Church Dayton, 
Ohio, with an introduction by the Rev. G. H. 
Gerherding, D, D., professor of Practical Theol- 
ogy in the Theological Seminary of the Evan- 
gelical Lutheran Church at Chicago, Illinois. 
This is a new book, and is a candid discussion 
of the institution Freemasonry, and offers an 
interpretation of its veiled expressions, art, 
speech, religion and ethics, and of its symbols, 
emblems and ceremonies. This interpretation is 
based upon hints given an,d statements made 
by the highest Masonic authorities and tested 
in the light of sources from which these claim 
that Freemasonry is derived. Cloth, 560 pages. 
Price $1.50 net. By mail $1.65. 



THE MASTER'S CARPET. 

By Edmond Ronayne, Past Master of Key- 
stone Lodge, No. 639, Chicago. Explains the true 
source and religious meaning of every symbol of 
the Blue Lodge, showing the basis on which the 
ritual is founded. By careful perusal of this 
work a thorough knowledge of the spiritual prin- 
ciples of Freemasonry can be obtained. Every 
Mason, every person contemplating becoming a 
member of the fraternity, and even those who 
are indifferent on the subject, should procure and 
cfirpfiilly read this book. 406 pages, illustrated 
with 50 engravings. $1.25. 

MASONIC SALVATION 

As taught by its standard authors. Compiled 
from standard Masonic works as proof of the 
proposition that "Freemasonry claims to be a 
religion that saves men from all sin, and purifies 
them for heaven." 20 cents. 

NATIONAL CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION 
850 W. Madison St., Chicago, 111. 




VOL. LIV. 




CHICAGO, JUNE, 1921. 



National Christian Association 
Annual Meeting 

JUNE 1st, 1921 

in the 

Third Christian Reformed Church 

Roseland, Chicago 



Ko. 2 




OFFICIAL rbRGAN, NATIONAL CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION 
15 CENTS A COPY ESTABLISHED 1868. $1.50 A YEAR 



VOL. LIV. No. 



CHICAGO. 



June, 1921 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 

PuWIshed Monthly by the National Christian 
Association. 



WM. I. PHILLIPS 
850 West Madison Street, Chicago. 

Managing Editor. 



TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION 

PRICE— Per year, in advance, $1.50; three 
months, on' trial, thirty-five cents; single 
copies, fifteen cents. 

PRESENTATION COPIES— Many persons sub- 
scribe for the Christian Cynosure to be sent 
to FRIENDS. In such cases, if we are advised 
that a subscription is a present and not regu- 
larly authorized by the recipient, we wi 
make a memorandum to discontinue at ex- 
piration, and to send no bill for the ensuing 
year. 

BUSINESS LETTERS should toe addressed to 
Wm. I. Phillips, Gen. Secy., at the above ad- 
dress. 
Entered as Second-class matter May 19, 1897, 

lit the Po-rt Office at Chicago, 111., under Act of 

Marc a 3. 1873. 



Comments. Position of Norwegian Luther- 
an Church of America, by Rev. P. A. 
Kittilsby 46 

Odd - Fellows Celebrate — Weekly Globe, 
Shelby, Ohio 47 

How Old Is Freemasonry? by Pres. C. A. 
Blanchard 47 

The Craft on Its Antiquity— Proceedings 
Grand Lodge, Nevada 50 

Vice-President Coolidge, Letter Sent to. .. . 51 

Lodge Politics— The Evening Mail 51 

Shall We Be Popular or Right? bv W. H. . 
Davis . 51 

The Question of the Hour, by E. E. Flagg. 52 

New Semi-Masonic Order, 56 

News of Our Work : 

Iowa Christian Association Convention.. 57 
Some Impressions of Convention of the 
Iowa Christian Association at Morning 

Sun 57 

An Appreciation of the Iowa Convention. 57 
Eastern Secretary's Report, Rev. W. B. 

Stoddard 59 

"Lizzie Woods' Letter," by Mrs. L. W. 

Roberson 60 

Southern Agent's Report, by Rev. F. J. 
Davidson 61 

Governor McKinley's Initiation, by George 
F. Woodard 62 

A Patriot's Appeal, by Ozias N. Barnes. ... 62 

NATIONAL CHRISTIAN ASSOCIA- 
TION. 



CONTENTS 



President, Rev. John F. Heemstra; 
Vice-President, Rev. Wm. B. Rose, 

Recording Secretary, Mrs. N. E. Kel- 
logg; Secretary-Treasurer, Wm. I. 

"~ or Phillips. 

Annual Meeting .••••• • 6i > r 

Can Not Verify Ten Masonic Signers ot 

Declaration of Independence— Pro ceed- BOARD OF DIRECTORS. 

ings Grand Lodge, D. C 35 Walter Wietzke, A. W. Safford, G. W. 

C W?lie m DD ^ Prayer '.. by . DaVld . - G .'36 Hylkema, Wm. P. Ferries, J. R. Shaf- 

Objections to the Brotherhood of Railway fer, G. W. Bond, M. P. F. Doermann, 

Clerks, by Rev. M. P. F. Doermann 37 A H Leaman, C. A. Blanchard, George 

From the Ritual, "Brotherhood of Railway gl and ^^ Q McK night. 

Clerks ' °' J 

Politicians, Criminals, Elks, Eagles, by Rev. crTTTttTTl?* 

O. F. Englebrecht 39 LECTURERS. 

Shriners Invade School for Girls— Miami Those desiring lectures or addresses 

(Fla.) Daily Metropolis 41 m wr j te tQ Q f ^ spea k ers named 

Local Masons Hold Baptismal Ceremony— J 

San Jose (Calif.) Mercury Herald 42 below . 

Children of Masons Baptised— The Times, Rev. W. B. Stoddard, Box 94, East 

of Los Angeles, Calif 42 FalJg Cnurch) Virginia 

^iW,. 1 ". AnCient . a " d A r 42 Rev. Adam Murrman, Arena, Wis. 

Masonry Again at Work-B. M. Holt. ..... 44 Rev. F. J. Davidson, 927 St. Maurice 

Christia'n, Family, Private and Parochial ^ ye New Orleans La 

Schools Attacked 44 

The Honorable Elk 44 M rs . Lizzie W. Roberson, 311 W. 24th 

Elks' Fifty-Third Birthday— Elks' Official g t Argenta Ark 

Organ, "Tzvo 60 Chaff" 45 "' 8 r ' D1 , , ,,,, ;~ ln 

Woodmen and Yeomen. 45 Pres. C. A. Blanchard, Wheaton. Ill 



There is none 
other Name 
under heaven, 
given among 
men, whereby 
we must be 
saved. 

— Acts 4:12 



CHRISTIAN 

CYNOSURE 



Jesus answerea 


him: I 


spake 


openly 


to the 


world, 


and in 


secret 


have I 


said nothing. 


—Joh 


n 18:20 



ANNUAL MEETING. 
Wednesday, June 1, 1921. 
The annual meeting of the National 
Christian Association will occur on 
Wednesday, June 1, 1921, at 10 o'clock 
a. m. in the Third Christian Reformed 
Church, 109th Place and Perry Avenue, 
Chicago, for the election of officers and 
the transaction of other important busi- 
ness. 

John F. Heemstra, 

President. 
Nora E. Kellogg, 

Rec. Sec. 



CAN NOT VERIFY TEN. 
"All Signers of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence Were Masons." 

Past Grand Master W. W. Clarke, 
Louisiana, "quotes the names of twenty- 
four of the fifty-six signers of the Dec- 
laration of Independence as Masons." 
Past Grand Master G. W. Baird, Dis- 
trict of Columbia, in commenting upon 
this, says : "We have been searching for 
evidence on this for the past twenty 
years, but we cannot verify ten." — Pro- 
ceedings Grand Lodge District of Co- 
lumbia, 1919, page 41S. 



Among those who expect to be at our 
Annual Meeting, Wednesday, June 1st, 
next are a number whom all will be ex- 
pecting to see, and all will accord them 
a hearty welcome. Our President, Rev. 
J. F. Heemstra, writes that he may be 
expected. President Blanchard writes, 
"I expect to attend the Annual Meeting, 
God willing." Mrs. Lizzie W. Roberson, 
now laboring in St. Joseph, Missouri, ex- 
pects to be with us. I think our Eastern 
Secretary, Rev. W. B. Stoddard, has 
never missed an Annual Meeting in all 
the years that he has been connected with 
the Association. 

The address of the occasion will be 



given by Rev. G. W. Griffith, Editor of 
the Sabbath School Literature of the Free 
Methodist Church. He is rated high by 
his brethren as a speaker and we believe 
we are very fortunate in securing his 
services. 

Make a memorandum of the place of 
meeting as a convenience, if you attend, 
and as a reminder that it is on your list 
for special prayers. 

We meet in the Third Christian Re- 
formed Church, of Chicago, Rev. G. \\ . 
Hylkema, pastor. Take a State Street 
car, going south and marked 7 rcjth and 
Morgan Avenue. Get off" at 110th Street, 
walk two blocks east and a half block 
north. The church is located on 109th 
Place and Perry Avenue. 

It will be a pleasure to welcome you 
at the meeting and we hope that your 
church will appoint delegates. 



Can you not visit your headquarters 
here in the Carpenter Building, at 850 
West Madison St., the day before or the 
day after the Annual Meeting? We hope 
you can do so and shall be glad to wel- 
come you and to be of service to you if 
possible. 



From The Sunday School Times, of 
May 7, 1921, published in Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania, we take the following: 

"The Duty of Intolerance. — True love 
is always intolerant. We cannot really 
love without being intolerant of all that 
would injure the loved one. God was so 
intolerant of sin that 'He gave Mi- only 
begotten Son'. in order that, by the -bed 
blood of that Son. he might deliver men 
from intolerable sin and its intolerable 
consequences. The whole message <>t the 
Bible makes it plain that whoever wil- 
fully, persistently tolerates things that 
God cannot tolerate becomes necessarily 
intolerable to God. What a -ad mistake 



3d 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



June, 1921. 



it is, in these last days, when men actual- 
ly make a virtue of toleration in direc- 
tions where God makes it a vice. Some 
one has written, 'It is as if people were 
so afraid of intolerance that the}' are be- 
ginning to have no convictions at all." 



"Separated to Save. — Separation may 
condemn, or it may save. The loveless, 
Puritanical type of man separates him- 
self, in his outward life, from all things 
that he counts unworthy ; he lives in out- 
ward correctness, and he saves nobody. 
The man whose heart is cleansed by 
Christ and filled with the love of God is 
separated, in his innermost heart-life 
from unworthy things, and he can be- 
come a very fountain of salvation to 
others. In a sermon by Dr. C. L Sco- 
field, published in 'Serving-and-Waiting,' 
true and false separation are contrasted, 
as shown in the life of Simon the Phari- 
see in his own home, and. Jesus his guest. 
'Simon was a mechanically separated 
man. He thanked God that he was not 
as other men, just as his modern repre- 
sentatives are self-satisfied because they 
don't do things — dance, play at cards, 
and the like, Jesus Christ was separated 
in heart. He would neither go off into 
the lewdness of that woman, nor would 
he go off into the Phariseeism of that 
man. One was a correct, respectable sin- 
ner, the other the vile sort, but he was 
equally separate from both.' ' 



At each Annual Convention of the 
American Legion there is a committee 
of Christian men from one denomination 
which is there especially to strengthen 
the position which the Legion has so far 
held of being non-secret and non-relig- 
ious, so far as adopting an oath of secre- 
cy and a ritual for burial services is con- 
cerned. 

Can any one inform us whether or not 
the local Legion in their town conforms 
to the position which the National order 
maintains and advocates? 



COMPROMISING IN PRAYER. 

BY DAVID G. WYLIE, D. D. 

Reprinted from The I Vat eh man- Exam- 
iner. 
A compromise has been defined as the 
settling of a controversy, or the readjust- 
ment of conflicting views by mutual con- 



cession, often involving a partial surren- 
der of principle. 

A compromise, in practical matters, is 
sometimes necessary, but when it comes 
to things moral and religious a compro- 
mise is dangerous. The Missouri Com- 
promise of 1820, which dealt with hu- 
man slavery, is an example of a danger- 
ous compromise. Whenever any one is 
tempted to surrender a moral or religious 
principle he is on the verge of a precipice. 
Omitting Jesus Name. 

This article does not deal with compro- 
mise in general, but compromising in 
prayer by the omission of the name of 
Jesus Christ. 

According to the New Testament, Je- 
sus Christ is the mediator between God 
and man. He is the Ambassador of the 
Almighty, and the proper "court proce- 
dure" is to approach the Father through 
the Son. 

The Westminster divines define prayer 
to be "an offering up of our desires unto 
God, for things agreeable to his will in 
the name of Christ, with confession of 
our sins and thankful acknozvledgment of 
his mercies!' Does this definition proper- 
ly define Christian prayer? 

In all probability the great majority of 
Christians in their private devotions, and 
Christian ministers in their pulpits give 
their consent to this definition of prayer 
by using faithfully the name of Jesus 
Christ. 

When it comes to offering prayer in 
the presence of a miscellaneous group of 
men and women, however, there is a ten- 
dency in some quarters to compromise by 
omitting the name of Jesus Christ. One 
serious objection to the "prayers" in the 
rituals of many social and civic organiza- 
tions is the omission of the name of 
Jesus Christ. Such prayers may be the- 
istic or deistic, but not Christian. In 
some cases the name of Almighty God is 
crowded out and deity is addressed by 
the use of some general term, such as 
"The Great Architect of the Universe." 
This is a compromise and is done with 
the thought in mind of not offending men 
who are not Christians. 

In public assemblies, as a rule, minis- 
ters pretty faithfully use the name of 
Jesus Christ in prayer. There are, how- 
ever, exceptions. I have heard a Roman 



Tune, 1921, 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



37 



Catholic priest at a public function omit 
the name of Christ, and it was a painful 
experience. Does any one for a moment 
suppose that a Jew, an agnostic, a Mo- 
hammedan or an unbeliever has a higher 
esteem for a priest or minister who con- 
sciously omits the name of Christ in 
prayer, than for one who faithfully re- 
flects his belief in his prayer that Jesus 
Christ is really what he claims to be? 
Shall We Please Man or God? 

This is an intensely important and 
practical matter. A minister, for example, 
is invited to act as chaplain at the com- 
mencement exercises of a university. He 
knows that there will be present Jews, 
Roman Catholics, Protestants of differ- 
ent denominations, Christian Scientists, 
Unitarians, unbelievers and possibly Mo- 
hammedans and Buddhists. What is he 
to do? Is he to seek to please his hear- 
ers, at least not to offend them, by omit- 
ting the name of Jesus Christ? The 
question answers itself. We are to please 
God rather than men. 

A Christian should never leave his 
Lord outside the door of any organiza- 
tion, or smother the name of Almighty 
God under general terms. Men of other 
■faiths are likely to discredit and doubt 
the sincerity of a Christian minister who, 
on a public occasion, seeks to please by 
omitting the name of Jesus Christ in his 
prayer. 
— Indiana Baptist Observer. 

May 12, 1921. 



OBJECTIONS TO THE BROTHER- 
HOOD OF RAILWAY CLERKS. 

REV. M. P. F. DQERMAN. 

As we file these objections, we wish 
first of all emphatically f-p assert that this 
is not done for the purpose of antagoniz- 
ing the Brotherhood of Railway Clerks 
as such, or the cause of the working- 
men which it espouses, 

We believe Unions to be a necessity in 
the economical life of our day. The 
monopoly of wealth || most practically 
met and counterbalanced by a consoli- 
dation of all those workers who create 
that wealth, and if unjons and brother- 
hoods do not over-reach themselves by 
placing might before right, they cannot 
help but be an economical blessing in 
every way. Lutherans do believe in un- 
ions, and are very sorry that they cannot 



co-operate with them as they would like 
to for reasons of conscience. 

We also believe that the objections 
which we shall name, are in no wise nec- 
essary or beneficial to the Railway 
Clerk's Brotherhood. The Brotherhood 
could very well do without them, and 
would be all the more democratic and 
strong without them. If these objection- 
able features could be removed, the Or- 
der would certainly have our whole- 
souled support. Let us briefly state the 
conscientious scruples which we enter- 
tain : 

I. 

We Lutherans do not like secret or- 
ders. We try always to be mindful of 
the Saviour's words, that we should be 
the 'light of the w r orld" that we should 
"walk openly as in the day," that His 
own best defense was : "In secret have I 
said nothing" (John 18:20). 

We have always accepted it as a rule 
that only that "which is evil need shun 
the light," and we know from our own 
experience that those things about our- 
selves which we want to keep secret, are 
not the good things./ What is true of 
the individual, we think true of the or- 
ganization or corporation. We believe 
in open covenants, openly arrived at. 
The organized secret forces in the world 
have never yet proven a blessing to man- 
kind, but in the end always a curse. 

This does not mean that it may not be 
well for us on one or more occasions to 
withhold certain actions or resolutions 
from becoming public property at once. 
Just as there are things in each family, 
which are properly private matters and 
not to be made public knowledge; but 
the family is not a secret institution nor 
worked on secret principles. What is 
more, we believe that putting the dark- 
ban of secrecy over any institution in the 
end will defeat any good purpose which 
it proposes. Secrecy discredits things in 
a way, unless there is on the face of it a 
just reason for secrecy in certain in- 
stances for a short time. 
II. 

Our second objection is more serious 
than the first. Members must oblig 
themselves under oath to keep secret and 
inviolate the secrets of the brotherhood 
— to be obedient to the officers oi the 
brotherhood — to guard a fellow-mem- 



38 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



June, 1921 



ber's interests as his own — this obligation 
to remain binding even after a member 
shall have for some reason or other quit 
the Order. 

In the first place we fail to see how a 
conscientious man, Christian or not, can 
intelligently put himself under such an 
obligation. There will be secrets to be 
kept. What they shall be he does not 
know. If he did they would not be se- 
crets ; of whatever nature they will be, 
all is unknown to him, and he does not 
know whether they will be right or 
wrong. How can he know whether he 
should oppose or support, in advance of 
knowing, what the secrets are? Yet he 
binds himself by a solemn oath to keep 
them secret and inviolate. This is wrong ! 
It is contrary to man's moral nature. It 
is contrary to God's law! 

In the second place the candidate 
swears obedience to the officers without 
knowing what it is that they will com- 
mand. This again is an unmoral act. 
In such a matter man may swear obedi- 
ence only to God. Furthermore, from 
the standpoint of a free American citi- 
zen, such a requirement is as despotic as 
anything can be and is an unwarranted 
sacrifice of ones personal liberty which 
requires us to act in all things as reason 
dictates when the facts are known. It is 
also as undemocratic as possible. 

In the third place, a member swears 
that he will guard a fellow member's in- 
terest's as his own. This is so manifest- 
ly impossible, that we will waste but few 
words upon it. Only a superhuman man 
could keep this obligation. And the oath 
does not say that he shall do this to the 
best of his ability, but that he shall do it ! 
It is a false oath on the face of it. 

Then the whole question as to the oath 
is such, that we simply cannot comply 
with the demands of the Brotherhood in 
this respect. Christ tells us : "Swear not 
at all !" "Let your communication be yea, 
yea, and nay, nay," etc. So that in com- 
mon life, when we are acting for our- 
selves no oath should be used by us at all. 
But when our Government commands us, 
that is manifestly a different matter. The 
responsibility then rests upon it, not with 
us ; and an oath then is also in harmony 
with the Word of God. 

How can a Christian then take an oath 
to do that which to say the least is an 



uncertain thing, for he knows not what 
it is he really does swear to do, nor 
whether it would be right to keep the oath 
when the matter shall be revealed to him. 
In taking an oath — that is to ask God 
to punish us if we say not the truth — 
we must be absolutely positive as to our 
ability to keep such an oath, and also of 
the righteousness of the oath in every 
instance and hence we must know in ad- 
vance what the oath requires us to do. 

The oath unto secrecy is wrong! The 
oath of unlimited obedience to man is 
wrong ! The oath that we will guard a 
members interests as our own is wrong, 
for no man can keep it. 

Remove the oath from the ritual of the 
Order, and you remove one very great 
objection to conscientious Lutherans and 
other Christians from becoming members 
of the Brotherhood of Railway Clerks. 
III. 

But the greatest objection of all is the 
religious practices which obtain in the 
Brotherhood. 

In the lodge-room there is an altar. 
One of the officers of the lodge is a chap- 
lain. Prayers are offered, burial serv- 
ices are conducted by the Brotherhood as 
though it were a church. 

The altar of any organization stands 
for the religion and worship of that or- 
ganization. Now when a man is an in- 
telligent Lutheran, he is in fellowship 
with nothing except the Church so far 
as his religion is concerned. And if the 
religion of the Brotherhood is not the re- 
ligion of the Lutheran Church, and mani- 
festly it is not, then a Lutheran has no 
business to worship at its lodge altar. 

The Chaplain is the minister and spir- 
itual adviser of those unto whom he is 
chaplain. A Lutheran church member's 
chaplain is his pastor, or one of his 
church, and no other. And when, as fre- 
quently is the case, a man is elected to 
the chaplaincy in a lodge who is not a 
Christian at all, the whole matter be- 
comes profane. No Christian should 
take part in such worship. 

In the prayers offered, none are of- 
fered in the name of Jesus Christ. The 
one thing essential in Christian prayer is 
that we ask in the name of Jesus Christ, 
our Saviour, who has redeemed us. How 
can a believer in Christ stand for the 
name of the Son of God being purposely 



June, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



39 



omitted from the prayer which he is sup- 
posed to take part in? We know why it 
is done ! hut a Lutheran can in no case 
sanction it. 

Lastly, how can a Lutheran or any 
Christian, who believes that only the be- 
liever in Christ has eternal life, subscribe 
to the burial service of the Brotherhood 
of Railway Clerks, which makes everlast- 
ing bliss dependent upon the good works 
and deeds done by men here on earth, 
without reference to repentance and con- 
fession of sin and of faith in Christ? 
This latter matter is to us the greatest ob- 
jection of all. We see in this teaching of 
the Brotherhood a real agency for un- 
dermining the Christian faith in our 
young people. And while we admit that 
the purpose of the Brotherhood is not to 
oppose any Creed, it nevertheless does so 
and its creed requires a confession of 
the old heathen religions without an 
atoning saviour — and as far as members 
are brought to believe in that kind of 
salvation it is in fact an undermining of 
the one true faith which we hold ! 

Now, in all sincerity and friendliness, 
one question : Why does the Brother- 
hood of Railway Clerks dable in religion 
at all? 

Where there is such a multiplicity of 
religious confessions and creeds and also 
of unbelief represented among its many 
members, why not omit this matter from 
your ritual and leave every man to wor- 
ship his God as his conscience dictates? 
This organization is not instituted for 
religious purposes ! Why not simply ig- 
nore religion, then? Let it be a business 
organization, pure and simple, and it will 
be all the better for it. And if all refer- 
ence to religion should be dropped, then 
our greatest objection would be removed. 

Look at this in a big way, and I am 
certain that you will agree with me on 
this religious point, and also on the mat- 
ter of the oath. We would like to see 
it made possible for our church members 
to join this Order. 



FROM THE RITUAL 

BROTHERHOOD OF RAILWAY 

CLERKS. 



clare that I will keep sacred and in- 
violate the secrets of this Brotherhood, 
and will not repeat outside of the lodge 
room any transaction whatsoever which 

may have taken place therein to anyone 
other than those whom I know to be 
members in good standing. 

"I will obey the Constitution and Laws 
of this Organization, and all order- ema- 
nating from its proper offices when in 
conformity therewith; I will not know- 
ingly wrong or defame a member my- 
self, or allow it to be done by others, if 
in my power to prevent it. 

"I will assist a member at all times in 
so far as my means or ability will permit 
and will guard a member's interest as my 
own. 

"I will employ, or assist a member of 
this Brotherhood to secure employment, 
in preference to a non-member. 

"I further declare that should I from 
any cause leave this order, my obligation 
shall remain binding and in full force. 

"To all this I promise and declare that 
I will keep and perform the same to the 
best of my ability, so help me God, and 
may He keep me steadfast." 



Prayer by Chaplain. 

"Our Father, Who art in Heaven after 
we depart from this room, having done 
our full duty, and carried out our vows 
according to our promise, by Thy grace 
cause us to remember our obligation, and 
refrain from discussing any transactions 
which have taken place in this meeting 
with or in the presence of anyone except 
those whom we know to be members of 
this Brotherhood in good standing. 
Amen." 

All Answer: "So let it be." 



"I 



Obligation. 
-, of my own free will, in 



the presence of Almighty God and this 
assembly, do solemnly promise and de- 



POLITICIANS, CRIMINALS, ELKS, 

EAGLES. 

BY O. F. ENGLEBRECHT. 

There are many who contend that 
oath-bound secret societies are a menace 
to our democratic institutions, to a free 
government anywhere, and even to law 
and order and decency. 

It cannot be denied, whatever may be 
the position one may assume against such 
societies, that organized secretism may 
be abused and may become a real men- 



40 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



June, 1921, 



ace. Experience proves that secret so- 
cieties are used by politicians to further 
their individual fortunes. On what other 
theory could one explain the fact that the 
vast majority of politicians are connected 
with some secret society, often with 
many, preferably with the Masons ? How 
else could one account for the fact, as 
was the case in Nebraska a year ago, that 
twenty-one of the twenty- four State 
Senators were Masons, that the majority 
of the Supreme judges, the governor and 
most other office-holders were Masons, 
unless one assumed that the Masons are 
in politics, all claims to the contrary not- 
withstanding. 

Experience proves, too, that criminals 
seek to escape the penalties for their 
crimes by joining secret societies, and by 
appealing to their lodge-brethren on the 
bench, and in the jury box. I do not 
suppose that all judges and jurymen 
break their oath of office by obeying the 
signs of distress — perhaps the majority 
are honorable men and place their oath 
of office above their lodge obligation. 
Nevertheless, no one can deny the fact 
that there have been cases where crim- 
inals have escaped punishment owing to 
their lodge connection; and there is the 
ever present possibility that justice may 
miscarry, because of these secret alli- 
ances and obligations. 

Organized Secrecy is an Invitation to Break 
the Laws of the Land. 

All lodges are made up of good and 
bad men. Let the bad men predominate 
and the good men will gradually with- 
draw, or remain away from the meetings, 
leaving the bad men to do as they see fit. 
It is easy to see what the result will be. 
Shielded by the secrecy of the lodge- 
room, they may hatch out any kind of 
deviltry. I do not say, that this is always 
done, but the possibility is ever present. 
Elks Club House. 
In the issue of January 14, 1921, The Des 
Moines Evening Tribune had the following 
item : 



"County Attorney A. G. Rippey this morn- 
ing hied a petition for a restraining order 
against Derry Reilly, asking the District Court 
to restrain him from participating in the sale 
of intoxicating liquors in the Elks' Club 
House." About two or three weeks ago the 
place was raided by State Agents and quan- 
tities of liquor found. 

In The Des Moines Capital, January 14th, 
1921, we read : "Ben Koolbeck, Federal Pro- 
hibition Officer of Des Moines, and S. J. Knox, 
Revenue Inspector from Council Bluffs, — con- 
ducted a series of raids at Marshalltown Tues- 
day night. Among the places raided was the 
Eagles' Club, where they obtained three hun- 
dred and twelve bottles of home-brew and 
fifty gallons of home-brew in the making." 

Now, The Nebraska State Jouhial of May 

5th, 1921, carries a despatch from* Des Moines 

dated May 4th, and reading as follows : 

Eagle Lodge Officers Fined. 

Eagles Taxed $100.00 Apiece for Making 

Home Brew. 

Des Moines, Iowa, May 4. — Officers of the 
Eagles lodge of MarshalltoWn, Iowa, were 
fined $100.00 each in Federal Judge Martin 
Wade's court here today fo| manufacturing 
home-brew for their initiation celebration. 
Fines were held to a minimum upon the prom- 
ise of the officials that they would discontinue 
any brewing operations in the future." 

I believe that raids upon Eagles' and 
Elks' club houses in other parts of the 
country would reveal the same condition, 
disregard of the law of the land in the 
matter of manufacturing intoxicating 
liquors. Usually they get away with it, 
because lodges seem to enjoy a kind of 
immunity. If the lodge meetings were 
thrown open to public inspection, law- 
breaking might be reduced to a minimum, 
so far as the lodges are concerned. But 
they will not come to the light, because 
their works are evil. 

Now in this day and age, when the 
nations of the world have experienced 
the evil of secret dipl6macy, when open 
covenants openly arrived at were hailed, 
the world over, as the sign of a new era 
in the history of governments, now that 
public authorities all over the country are 
coming to see the evil or the possibilities 



June, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



41 



for evil of secret societies in high schools 
and colleges, is it not a peculiar incon- 
sistency that so many of our officials, 
from the President down, are members 
of secret-oath-bound societies? Is it not 
an intolerable condition that ministers 
should be members of secret societies, 
when Christ, their Master, whom they 
profess to serve, carried on openly be- 
fore the world and declared before His 
would-be judges: "In secret have I said 
nothing" ? 

So far from supporting secret socie- 
ties with their contributions and above 
all through their example, ought not 
Christian ministers and enlightened citi- 
zens everywhere, lift up their voice in 
protest against an institution that is so 
little Christ-like, and that has within it- 
self great possibilities for evil? 

Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 

— May 7th, 1921. 



SHRINERS INVADE SCHOOL FOR 
GIRLS. 

Girls Dragged from College Classrooms 
and Made To Go Riding, Though 

Girls Kicked and Cried. 
(Reprinted from Lutheran Sentinel.) 

Breaking through locked doors and 
compelling girl students at the Florida 
State College for women in Tallahassee 
to accompany them on automobile rides 
and to perform for their entertainment, 
Mystic Shriners at the State Convention 
held in the capital city a week ago, acted 
in a way described as disgraceful by 
Miss Nina E. McAdam. a Miami girl, 
who was given a scholarship in the insti- 
tution by the Pan-Hellenic Association 
of Miami. Miss McAdam writes her 
parents in Miami, Fla., Mr. and Mrs. 
A. R. McAdams, that the Shriners broke 
their promise not to visit the college, as 
they did the year before, the}' kidnaped 
President Conradi of the institution and 
several of the instructors, and then did 
about as they pleased at the school. De- 
spite the cries of the girls, they were 
chased around the campus and when 
caught, forced to the ground and made 
to drink from a nursing bottle. 

Miss McAdam's letter, written last 



Sunday, Feb. 20, 1 921, is in part as fol- 
lows : 

Miss McAdam's Letter. 

"If I've been complaining about lack 
of news, f haven't any complaint this 
time. Yesterday morning we had enough 
excitement to last a week. The explana- 
tion is the Shriners' Convention. They 
came out here last year and busted up 
the school, so this year they had a con- 
ference with the faculty committee and 
agreed that, if the college would allow 
the girls to go to the parade in the morn- 
ing and to the band concert (if they gave 
one) yesterday afternoon, they would 
not come out to the college at all. Well, 
yesterday morning about eleven o'clock 
here came all the Shriners pouring into 
the building and playing and shouting t< 1 
beat their own band. They went into all 
the classrooms and declared a holiday, 
and if the girls wouldn't leave, they just 
dragged them out by main force. They 
took Dr. Conradi and several of the pro- 
fessors and just carried them and put 
them into cars, and took them oft. One 
teacher locked the door, and they [the 
Shriners] took off the hinges. They 
certainly were rude and vulgar. 
Forced to the Ground. 

"They actually made some of the girls 
drink out of an old nursing-bottle of milk 
they had. They chased the girls and got 
them down on the ground and made them 
drink it. The girls kicked and cried 
and bit, but they couldn't help it. You 
see, they [the Shriners] were all more 
or less drunk, and I guess they did not 
know what they were doing. 

'Two of them attempted to drag me 
from the library, but I made them take 
their hands off of me, and I asked them 
what sort of gentlemen they considered 
themselves. I guess they thought I 
looked mad as well as husky, for my 
glance evidently pierced their befogged 
brains, and they let me alone. Then we 
locked the library. 

"< )ne tried to climb through the trans- 
som, but he couldn't quite make it. All 
day long they rode around here and 
grabbed Up girls and made them ride 
with them. ( me tried to persuade me to 
get in, but I walked on like 1 didn't hear 
him. 

"Most of the girls were thoroughly 
disgusted for they | the Shriners] acted 
so much like wild men ; most oi them 



42 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



June, 1921. 



were over fifty , too. So last night the 
student body met and decided to write 
them a letter, saying that we thought 
they had overstepped the bounds of pro- 
priety and had damaged the dignity of 
the institution, etc. The head of the local 
shrine came out and said he hadn't 
known what happened. I don't know 
what will be done by the way of apology, 
but I do know that my opinion of 'the 
square-and-compass men' has been con- 
siderably lowered. 

"They did manage to get them off the 
campus by chapel time. Of course, they 
came back later and stayed all after- 
noon." 

—Miami (Fla.) Daily Metropolis, Feb- 
ruary 26, 1 92 1. 



LOCAL MASONS HOLD BAPTISMAL 

CEREMONY. 

San Jcse Scottish Rite Orders Baptize 37 

Children of Lodge Members. 

The Scottish Rite Temple on North 
Third street was, Sunday afternoon, 
March 20th, 1 921, crowded with members 
of the order and their families, the occa- 
sion being the public ceremony of Ma- 
sonic baptism. Yesterday's baptismal 
ceremony was the fourth in the history of 
the San Jose Scottish Rite bodies, 37 chil- 
dren being baptized, which brings the to- 
tal number baptized by the order up to 
68. 

The ceremony is one of the most an- 
cient of the order, as well as one of the 
most serious and highly valued, in that 
the ceremony is indicative of the adop- 
tion of the child by the order, and ex- 
tends to the child the privilege of calling 
upon the order, no matter in what part 
of the country, for relief or assistance, 
should the need ever arise. 

Services Throughout the U. S. 

Similar services were held in all parts 
of the United States by the Scottish Rite 
lodges, Palm Sunday being set apart for 
the purpose. In the future, it is expected 
that baptismal services will be held by 
the San Jose body regularly every year 
on this date. — San Jose (Calif.) Mer- 
cury Herald, March 21, 1921. 



ternity amid solemnly impressive cere- 
monies, Sunday, Dec. 26, 1920, at the 
Scottish Rite Cathedral, 929 South Hope 
street. 

More than 800 persons, including the 
parents and the godfathers and god- 
mothers of those dedicated, gathered in 
the stately auditorium to witness the 
baptisms. The ceremony is distinctly a 
Masonic one and has for its purpose the 
guiding and upholding of the protecting 
hand of Free Masonry. 

After the Masonic rites were over 
members of the Christian faith who de- 
sired it were given Christian baptism by 
Dean MacCormack of St. Paul's Pro- 
Cathedral. A feature of the services was 
the special music by the Scottish Rite 
choir. 

The Masonic baptism in the name of 
Masonry lasted from 2 to 4 p. m., and 
the ceremonies were in charge of the 
presiding officers of the organization. — 
The Times, Los Angeles, Calif., Dec. 27, 
1920. 



CHILDREN OF MASONS BAPTIZED. 

One hundred and thirteen boys and 
girls, children and grandchildren of 
members of the Scottish Rite were dedi- 
cated to truth and virtue and to the 
watchful care of all members of the fra- 



CEREMONY OF BAPTISM 
in the 
ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED SCOT- 
TISH RITE. 

The following- ceremony, called Masonic 
Baptism, is frequently performed in Europe 
and has recently been generally adopted in 
the United States. Palm Sunday has been 
designated as the day to be observed here- 
after for this service in San Jose, Cal. 

This ceremony can be performed by a 
Lodge of Perfection, the lodge in which 
the fourteenth degree of the Ancient and 
Accepted Scottish Rite is conferred, or 
by a Symbolic Lodge (Blue Lodge). 

A child of either sex may be baptized 
by this ceremony alone, until it has at- 
tained the age of twelve years if a boy, 
and of eighteen if a girl. 

The ceremony is particularly intended 
for infants. It secures to either boy or 
girl the protection and assistance of the 
Lodge and the brethren. 

In any case, the father of the child 
must be a Mason, or its mother the 
daughter of a Mason. The father or 
grandfather, as the case may be, must 
be, if living, or must have been, if dead, 
at the time of his death an affiliated Ma- 
son, unless his non-affiliation is, or was, 
not attributable to his own fault, indif- 
ference, or neglect ; and this rule, also, is 
relaxed where the mother is a ward or 



June, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



43 



adopted child of the Lodge. 
Preliminaries. 

It needs no vote of the Lodge to con- 
sent to the baptism of a child. Every one 
that comes within the conditions is enti- 
tled to it as of right. 

When a child is to be baptized, the 
Lodge will proceed to select a brother of 
the Lodge to be its godfather, and the 
wife or sister of a brother of the Lodge 
to be its godmother. 

The lodge will then appoint a delega- 
tion of three members to communicate 
with the parent or parents of the child — 
or, if he have none living or competent 
to act, then with its nearest relatives — to 
obtain their consent to the baptism, and 
secure their presence at the ceremony. 
If the child be of such age as that it is 
proper for itself to be consulted, the 
delegation will do that also. 

If it have no father, or if he be un- 
able, unfit, or unwilling to assist at the 
ceremony, the delegation will, if possible, 
arrange with one of its nearest relatives, 
male, to act as its father in the ceremony. 
If they cannot, they will select a Past 
Master of the Lodge, or, if there be none, 
some other past officer, to act in the 
place of its father. 

So, if it have no mother or other near 
female relative, able, fit and willing to as- 
sist at the ceremony, they will select the 
wife, sister, or daughter of some brother 
of the Lodge, to act in the place of its 
mother. 

They will procure white garments for 
the child, and, if they be unable to pro- 
cure them for themselves, garments of 
black for the father, and of white for the 
mother. 

The ceremony being a public one, pub- 
lic notice may be given. 

Arrangement for Lodge Ceremonials. 

The arrangement of the hall is bril- 
liant, hung with garlands and strewn 
with flowers. 

When the spectators have taken their 
seats, the Lodge is opened in a room ad- 
jacent to the hall, and proceeds thither 
in procession, the members and visiting 
brethren together, . and in due order. 
Every member in the procession must be 
in regalia. The greatest decorum will be 
observed. 

Worshipful Master says : "The solem- 
nity which calls us to meet together today 



is one which most eminently accords 
with the purposes and spirit of our insti- 
tution. 

It is not a mere idle and showy cere- 
monial, designed to obtude ourselves 
upon the notice of the world, or to give 
an empty title to those who are as yet too 
young to appreciate and understand. 
Masonic Baptism was instituted far more 
for the parents than for the children, 
while it affords each father an occasion 
for renewing his own obligations. He, 
also, by concurring in an act which im- 
presses upon his child of his own sex, 
in advance, the character of Mason, and 
which gives it, of either sex, a right to 
the protection and careful guardianship 
of the Lodge, obliges himself of necessity 
to rear it in the principles of Freemason- 
ry. 

In our ceremony of Baptism we nei- 
ther imitate nor have it in view to supply 
the place of any religious rite of any 
church. For baptism is not the exclusive 
property of religion. As the natural syni- 
bol of purification of the soul, it was 
used in the ancient mysteries and solem- 
nities of India, Egypt, and Greece. When 
the aspirant to a knowledge of these old 
mysteries cleansed his body with water, 
he did so as a pledge that he would in 
like manner cleanse his soul and spirit 
from vice and immorality. It was not 
imagined that the ceremony itself had 
any healing virtue, or conferred holiness 
upon the recipient. From these myster- 
ies, from Eleusis and Samothrace, and 
from the Essenes, this rite has come to 
us by legitimate transmission, and we use 
it in no spirit of irreverence, but in the 
simple sense in which it was used in the 
land watered by the Nile, before the 
building of the Pyramids. The candi- 
date of Eleusis, purifying himself, before 
entering into the mysterious temple, by 
washing his hands in holy water, was ad- 
monished to present himself with a mind 
pure and undefiled, without which the 
external cleanliness of the body would by 
no means be accepted. Such only is the 
sense of our Baptism. 

What edifice of faith and creed each 
brother builds upon that foundation we 
have no right to inquire, and therefore 
do not seek to inquire. It is enough for 
us to know that each believes in the ex- 
istence of a Supreme Intellect, Creator 



44 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



June, 1921. 



and Preserver of all things, a Deity of 
infinite tenderness, pity, and love; and 
that we are not mere successive phe- 
nomena, proceeding from combination 
and organization, but living souls, dis- 
tinct from matter, and destined to sur- 
vive after our bodies are dissolved. To 
one who did not thus believe, our sym- 
bols would have no meaning. 
— Extracts from Ceremony of Baptism 
in The Book of the Ancient and Accept- 
ed Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, by 
Charles T. McClenachan, 33°, Past 
Grand Master of Ceremonies of the Su- 
preme Council. 

(To be continued.) 



MASONRY AGAIN AT WORK. 

A telegram from A. L. Metz, Deputy 
of the Supreme Council of the Ancient 
and Accepted Scottish Rite in Louisiana, 
says : 'The Constitutional Amendments, 
numbers one and two dealing with the in- 
creased taxation for public school educa- 
tional purposes, have been passed with a 
majority vote of the people. It has been 
hard work but the results fully justified 
the labor given to the movement." — The 
New Age (Masonic). 

In this connection we should remem- 
ber that the Masonic society is officially 
active everywhere in an effort to destroy 
the parochial schools of the Lutheran 
Church. 

B. M. Holt. 



CHRISTIAN, FAMILY, PRIVATE AND 
PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS AT- 
TACKED. 

The National Masonic Service Asso- 
ciation is a new organization which in a 
way takes the places of a United States 
Grand Lodge. The various grand lodges 
of the different states are represented in 
it and so enables the Masonic Empire to 
move as a united body in the carrying 
out of any object decided upon. In our 
next number we shall take up more at 
length the Smith-Towner Bill, now be- 
fore Congress, which was introduced by 
Masons and is backed by the Masonic 
Grand Lodges through this new organi- 
zation, as well as directly by the Grand 
Lodges themselves. 

We give below a few extracts on this 
subject from a magazine published at 
Manchester, New Hampshire, called 



Prophecy. We quote from the April-May, 
192 1, number, Vol. 7, No. 1, page 360. 

"The founders of our country were 
Freemasons, and occult philosophers, and 
wisely ordained that 'no sectarianism 
shall be taught in our free public schools,' 
and the Smith-Towner Education Bill is 
one step in the right direction, taking 
the public schools out of the hands of 
their enemies ! 

"Now, in direct contrast to the oppo- 
sition from the Knights of Columbus, 
doubtless the factor representing the 
Roman Catholic Church which is the 
sworn enemy of the public schools, we 
find the Freemasons, not as an organiza- 
tion but as a great world-wide brother- 
hood, in every age and nation, the indi- 
viduals of which are banded together 
under such tenets as promote and install 
liberty, knowledge, learning, commerce, 
science, and the public schools ; and as 
'Light' is the source of Freemasonry, 
and in every historical crisis 'Light' has 
finally dispelled 'Darkness' bigotry, and 
superstition, so the principles of Free- 
masonry won the last Presidential elec- 
tion, and will rescue, as never before, 
this country from sectarian bigotry, and 
preserve the public schools, which they 
established at the foundation of this Re- 
public, and in all other countries which 
they have freed from the ignorance of 
sectarian instruction." 

"The public schools are not godless, as 
God is truth, and wisdom ! God is not a 
person, but a principle !" 



THE HONORABLE ELK. 

Without any special code or creed the 
Elks stand for a certain standard of in- 
tellect and ethics. The man with an Elk's 
tooth on his watch-chain, or the antlers 
in his buttonhole, has no quarrel with 
God. He accepts life and finds it good. 
He may not be so very wise, nor so very 
good, but since he knows he is not wise 
and is ready to admit he is not so very 
good, he is wiser than he knows and bet- 
ter than he will acknowledge. 

He knows that truth is a point of view, 
that all is relative, "that nothing is final 
nor absolute, nor can it be in a world 
where there is nothing but change. So 
the Elks religion is Now and Here; to 
partake of all good things in moderation ; 
to give out love and kindness because 



June, 1921. 



Christian cynosure 



these things come back; and to supply a 
scrap [fight] only to the man who re- 
peatedly asks for it, and will accept noth- 
ing else — this as a matter of accommoda- 
tion. — Extracts from an appreciation by 
Elbert Hubbard. 



the "Buffaloes.'' It was a convivial society. 
One of the reasons for giving this new 
ciety the name of "Jolly Corks" is found in 
Allen ( ). Myers history of the Order: 
flying corks thai came from the bottles." — 
Editor. 



ELKS FIFTY-THIRD BIRTHDAY. 

It is perhaps safe to say that not one 
Elk in a thousand knows the history of 
our Order, or its inception, and as Feb- 
ruary 16th was its fifty-third birthday, 
we believe it fitting and proper to briefly 
outline its history. 

"The Jolly Corks,"* from which the 
great Order of Elks was given to the 
world, first saw the light of day at 39 
Wooster Street, New York, in 1867, in a 
theatrical boarding house kept by a Mrs. 
Ryan. Charles Vivian, a popular Eng- 
lish actor of the day, and a member of 
the English Order of *"Buffaloes" gave 
birth to the idea of forming a social club, 
the members of which would be recruited 
exclusively from the theatrical profes- 
sion.. On February 1 6th, the club met 
for the purpose of forming a permanent 
organization, at 193 the Bowery. At that 
meeting there were fifteen members pres- 
ent. The important business of the meet- 
ing was the selection of a name for the 
little club. When the votes were count- 
ed it was found that seven members had 
voted for the "Buffaloes" and seven for 
the "Elks." It was left to the Chairman, 
Charles Vivian, to cast the deciding vote, 
and he voted for the name "Elks." 

Thus the genial Vivian, creator of the 
"Jolly Corks," carved for himself a niche 
in fame's eternal temples, and as long as 
reverence for distinguished deeds finds 
lodgment in the human heart, the name 
of Charles Vivian will be honored as be- 
ing the father of the mighty Order of 
Elks, which has grown from that one lit- 
tle lodge in 186S to over 1,400 lodges 
with a membership of over 800,000. 
—From Elks' Official Organ, "Ttco 60 
Chaff." 

Fargo, North Dakota, February. [921. 

*In 1866 the Legislature of New York 
closed up all the saloons on Sunday. Actors 
are a social class, and some of them looked 
around to find some way to evade this law 
and to enjoy themselves as they saw fit on 
Sunday. Among the organizers were mem- 
bers of an organization in England called 



WOODMEN AND YEOMEN. 

A minister in Minnesota gave an in- 
structive address to his congregation on 
the Woodmen of the World, the Yoe- 
men, and other secret societies. The ma- 
jority were well convinced by the pastor 
that Christians should separate them- 
selves from such Orders. Some, how- 
ever, came to him and said that they 
were ready to prove that what he had 
said about the initiation, prayers, and 
funeral services of the Woodmen of the 
World were not true, as he had quoted 
them from "The Case Against the 
Lodge," by B. M. Holt. 

This reminds us of the time when 
Rev. M. P. F. Doermann of Blue Is- 
land, Illinois, gave his hearers an ad- 
dress on the relation of the Church to 
the Modern Woodmen of America. Sev- 
eral Modern Woodmen got up and told 
him that what he quoted from the M. 
W. A. ritual was not the truth. Rev. Mr. 
Doermann had in his possession the of- 
ficial ritual, published by the Order it- 
self. After his address he called some 
of the responsible men in his audience 
to the platform and gave to one party the 
ritual from which he had quoted and 
which he had obtained at the X. C. A. 
office, and to the other party he gave the 
official ritual and then had them com- 
pare his quotations as given in the two 
books. It was shown that they were 
identical. Some time later these very 
men, members of the Modern Woodmen 
of America, left their Order and con- 
fessed their sin at the time of the meet- 
ing referred to, ami joined the church. 

The author of "lite Case Against the 
Lodge," which is largely concerning the 
Woodmen of the World, had at the time 
at which he wrote the book, the official 
ritual of the Woodmen of the World 
and there is no question in the world but 
that he knew what he was writing about 
and stated the facts. 

Some time ago the ritual of the Yeo- 
men was printed in the CYNOSURE. It 
was not considered worth printing in 
pamphlet form because so Ear as princi- 



46 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



June, 1921. 



pies go, the character of the various se- 
cret insurance fraternities can be learned 
from our Modern Woodmen of America 
ritual. 



COMMENTS. 

Position of Norwegian Lutheran Church of 

America. 

Brooklyn, N. Y., May 2nd, 1921. 
Dear Mr. Phillips : 

Read with great interest the article in 
your last issue of the Cynosure (May) 
on Scandinavian-American Fraternity 
and am glad that you turn the searchlight 
on. It is needed. There is, however, 
a portion of the article that calls for a 
little comment. It is the portion that 
reads — ''member of the Norwegian Lu- 
theran Church of America (not the Nor- 
wegian Synod of the Synodical Confer- 
ence) * * *." 

The Norwegian Lutheran Church of 
America has officially taken a position 
against the lodge. Its constitution for 
local congregations on the subject of 
membership states explicitly: "Shall not 
be a member of any body or society hav- 
ing religions exercises zvhere the name of 
Jesus is barred, such denial of the name 
of Jesus making the society, according 
to God's Word, anti-Christian." (Math. 
10:32-33; 12:30; Rom. 10:9-10; Col. 3: 
17; John 7.) ' 

The venerable President of the Nor- 
wegian Lutheran Church of America, 
Dr. H. G. Stub, has written and testified 
repeatedly against the lodge. Rev. B. E. 
Bergesen, and the undersigned, members 
of the above mentioned body, have been 
members of the Board of Dirctors of the 
National Christian Association. 

Until I read the article I had been un- 
der the impression that the entire minis- 
try of our church stood opposed to the 
lodge. I am confident the great majority 
are. All honor to the Synodical Confer- 
ence for its stand in this matter. All 
honor to the Norwegian Synod in this 
respect. But credit should also be given 
the N. L. C. A. which includes almost all 
the Norwegian Lutherans of our coun- 
try. 

The article also states: "We should 
not doubt but that there are other pas- 
tors in that body who are lodge members 
now since the famous union in 1917 
when the liberals took charge." This 



looks a little "inspired." The term "lib- 
eral" has an odius sound in the ears of 
Norwegian Lutherans. We do not con- 
sider ourselves to be at liberty to be 
"liberal" with our Master's goods. Of 
course, the Cynosure is not the forum 
to enter upon a discussion of church con- 
troversy or church history, but I would 
only state that the president and five out 
of nine district presidents of the N. L. 
C. A. were formerly members of the 
Norwegian Synod, and never, to my 
knowledge, considered "liberal." I am 
confident that the overwhelming senti- 
ment of the Norwegian Lutheran Church 
of America is with the National Chris- 
tian Association in its stand against the 
lodge. 

With cordial greetings and wishing 
you success with the coming Annual 
Convention, I am, Yours, 

(Rev.) P. A. Kittilsby. 



ODD FELLOWS CELEBRATE. 

The Odd Fellows of Shelby, Tiro, 
Plymouth and Shiloh yesterday (Sunday, 
April 24th) held their annual meeting in 
this city commemorating the 102nd anni- 
versary of Odd Fellowship in the United 
States. 

The lodges formed in front of the 
Odd Fellows lodge room on Main street 
and marched over the city to the First 
Lutheran Church, where the church was 
filled to capacity. The principal address 
at the church was made by Probate Judge 
Bissman. The following high spots are 
taken from Judge Bissman's address : 

"I cannot approach this task you have 
assigned me but with a spirit of rever- 
ence, for when we remember every good 
gift comes from God, we are also re- 
minded that this lodge looks for the good 
that it can do to God as the source, for 
first of all we are taught to heed the all 
seeing eye of God as the guide to every 
human action. When we assemble in our 
lodge we do not consider that we are reg- 
ularly authorized to proceed without first 
of all invoking the aid of God in prayer, 
and likewise when we close we pray for 
blessing and guidance, and one of the 
great principles to which we adhere, that 
we may not lose sight of our teachings, 
we allow no atheist within our border. 

The methods of imparting instructions 
are by certain symbols. Greatest of all 



Tune, 1921 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



47 



is the all seeing eye of God, to denote the 
imminence of God. Then you have the 
bundle of sticks to denote the strength of 
union, the bow, arrow and quiver to 
teach the feeling of mutual defense to be 
cultivated, the heart and hand emblemat- 
ical of love and mercy, and the Bible the 
book of Truth. 

I ask myself the question, what and 
where is Oddfellowship? It is like the 
question I rind in the 42 Psalm in the 3rd 
verse, Where is God? 

We, this day are all striving for the 
greater brotherhood of man. The church 
is busy trying to teach to me the great 
working plan of God, and how are we to 
understand it all unless we can in some 
way place it in the grasp of the human 
mind, exhibit it in human relationship of 
man. 

You ask me then wliat is Oddfellow- 
ship, and I will say to- you that it is a 
great band of men, united together by the 
most sacred ties of friendship to carry 
out to each other in those human rela- 
tions where man meets man, those truths 
and principles of friendship, love and 
truth. 

We are today all saying something is 
wrong in this old world. W T e are setting 
up standards that will mean our ruin, 
that is the standard that is measured by 
the dollar, but we must learn that wealth 
of a nation lies not in its gold, for we 
could gather all the gold and still be in 
the midst of poverty, rather the wealth 
of a nation lies in the high character, the 
contentment and happiness of its people. 
So it is with the individual, you may 
live in a palace, yet if the heart is not 
filled with a love of humanity you lose 
the great pleasure of life. 

Going to the book of the law, do we 
not find just such an illustration in the 
case of the Children of Israel, how when 
they were led out of the wilderness, and 
when Moses left them for a time, to go to 
the mountain and pray, they could not 
understand the God that led them across 
the Red Sea, or that provided them food, 
but they built a golden calf a visible ob- 
ject to pray to, and they were rebuked. 
If we are to find God we do not find it in 
gold, but in the acts of humanity. 

When you sought membership in this 
lodge, you were not asked about any 
bank account, nor were you asked wheth- 



er you had been in college, but you were 
asked if you had a faith in the Supreme 
Being, that you may be able to receive 
the lesson of humanity. 
— Weekly Globe, Shelby, Ohio, Monday, 
April 25, 192 1. 



HOW OLD IS FREEMASONRY? 
BY PRES. C. A. BLANCHARD, 1). D., WHEATON 

COLLEGE, ILLINOIS. 

The first lecture which I delivered on 
the subject of Freemasonry covered four 
points. First, The antiquity of the order. 
Second, Have the greatest and best men 
of all ages supported it? Third, Is it a 
beneficiary organization? Fourth, Can a 
Christian properly belong to it? For 
some time Freemasons seemed to give up 
the claim to antiquity. That was, how- 
ever, many years ago and of late it is 
revived along with other arguments 
which are equally untrue. I have clipped 
the following from a recent copy of the 
Chicago Daily News, one of our best 
daily papers. As you will notice, a good 
deal of it is talk, but the essence of the 
whole article is that Freemasonry is very 
ancient : 

Masonic Antiquity. 

"An interesting account of the ancient 
charges of Freemasonry was given re- 
cently at a meeting of the Jubilee Mas- 
ters' lodge by Sir Henry M'Mahon, 
writes a London correspondent of the 
Christian Science Monitor. The earliest 
written documents, he said, relating to 
Freemasonry found in England are 
known as the Regius MSS. These 
charges are written in verse and the date 
given by experts is between 1390 and 
141 5. The next is the Cooke MSS., 
dated about 1430. All these old docu- 
ments are, however, but transcripts or 
copies, varying in verbal detail, of one or 
more much older documents of which all 
trace has been lost. 

"All these old books of charges were 
divided into sections which dealt with 
the history of the craft with regulations 
as to Masonic assemblies and with in- 
junctions for the conduct of individual 
Freemasons. The historical section was 
a wide one. It always traced Freema- 
sonry back to before the Mood and con- 
nected it with the Tower of Babel, the 
introduction of Freemasonry into Egypt 



48 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



June, 1921. 



by Euclid and its introduction through 
the Israelites into Palestine, its entry into 
Europe and. finally, its official recogni- 
tion in England by Athelstan, the first 
king of all England. 

"Important Innovations Made." 
"In drawing up the charges of 1723 
three important innovations were made. 
The first related to the religious qualifi- 
cations of a Mason. The old charges all 
used to commence with an invocation to 
the Trinity and laid down that a Free- 
mason must be 'true to God and the Holy 
Church.' Now for the first time Chris- 
tianity was discarded as the one and only 
religion of Freemasonry and the religious 
qualifications of a Mason were extended 
to 'that religion in which all men agree' ! 
The compound terms "entered apprentice' 
and 'fellow craft' were used for the first 
time. 

"The power of private lodges in the 
conferring of degrees was restricted and 
the private lodge was empowered to con- 
fer only the first two degrees, although 
two years later the power was given to 
them to confer the master's degree. The 
accustomed opening invocation to the 
Trinity disappeared and the religious 
qualification of a Freemason became 
more broadened and defined and as it 
now stands in the 'Book of Constitutions,' 
'Let a man's religion be what it may, he 
is not excluded from the order provided 
he believes in the Glorious Architect of' 
Heaven and Earth and practices the sa- 
cred duties of morality.' 

"Old Building Secured." 
"The brethren of Bradford-upon-Avon 
have just come into possession of a very 
fine old building, which, like Freemason- 
ry, is rich in antiquity. It is known as 
the Old Church House, but many anti- 
quarians incline to the belief that it was 
at one time the Cloth Hall, built in 1490 
where the Guild of Cloth Merchants 
transacted their business. The part hith- 
erto used (on lease) as a Masonic Tem- 
ple was built about 1500 and was the 
place where, before the days of rating, 
meetings were held for raising funds for 
church repairs and the like. 

"The exterior of the Church House, 
with its buttresses, its high, small-paned 
windows, its heavy oak, churchlike door, 
bear unmistakably the 'ecclesiastical im- 



print' and the interior consists of a hand- 
some timber-framed hall, with a small 
minstrels' gallery. 

"The building has varied in the uses 
to which it has been put for many years 
past and in 19 12 was purchased by the 
Town Hall and Market company and 
let on lease to the Freemasons. Recog- 
nizing the antiquity of the building, A. 
Wallington, one of the oldest members 
and a stanch friend of the lodge, ex- 
pressed a desire to obtain the adjoining 
property and restore it to its original 
form. The plaster walls and false ceil- 
ings have been removed and the beauti- 
fully timbered ceiling has been uncov- 
ered and beams consisting of practically 
whole oak trees disclosed. The cost of 
the alterations and restoration has been 
generously borne by Mr. Wallington and 
the historical and ecclesiastical atmo- 
sphere of the lodge will be peculiarly 
suitable for the practice of the Masonic 
rites and customs." 

The reader will observe that we have 
here an account of an old building. The 
antiquity of Freemasonry is simply as- 
sumed. Freemasonry is not rich in an- 
tiquity ; it is rich in pretenses to antiquity 
and in efforts to make people believe that 
it is ancient. The final paragraph goes 
on to say that Masons are purchasing 
and erecting halls in different parts of" 
the country. This is an English article, 
but the same thing is true in the United 
States. 

We have quoted for years on this sub- 
ject from Prof. Parvin, past Grand Mas- 
ter and Grand Secretary of the Grand 
Lodge of Iowa and Grand Orator of the 
Grand Commandery of Iowa in 1875. 
He gave there an oration in which he 
spoke quite fully on this subject. Though 
the selection is a little long, I think it 
ought to be repeated in full because of 
the continual publication of falsehoods 
in the papers and because of the fact, 
that the ritual of Masonry has not 
changed. Each man that enters the lodge 
is told that Masonry is an ancient or- 
ganization and most of them believe it. 

In contrast to the article published in 
the "Daily News," I am quoting Pro- 
fessor Parvin from the oration above 
mentioned as published in "Freemasonry 
Illustrated" : 



June, 1921 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



49 



"We are wont to meet annually and 
as often to tell the old story of the origin 
of the institution, and present the people 
who honor with their presence our pub- 
lic assemblies, that same old dish of hash 
called Masonic history, tracing the in- 
stitution back to the time 'when the morn- 
ing stars sang together and all the sons 
-of God shouted for joy.' Or if they 
(that is, the grandiloquent orators) be 
a little modest or doubting in faith they 
will drop off a few cycles and come down 
to the time when 'Adam delved and Eve 
span' without the garden from which 
they had been expelled by an angry God 
whose laws they had put at naught in 
presuming, as some of our illustrious 
brothers and Sir Knights have since pre- 
sumed, to rebel against constituted au- 
thority and set up their will as the law 
for all to follow or be forever 'anathema 
maranatha.' Such oracles are always 
proclaiming as Masons : Enoch, the 
translated ; Solomon, the wise, and the 
St. Johns of Christian sanctity. It is 
amusing to note how they always enroll 
among their numbers the noble and the 
good of all nations, all the time as care- 
fully excluding the opposite class. An- 
other and a large" number more of our 
anniversary orators drop the antediluvian 
chapter and are even so considerate as 
to come down to the period of the build- 
ing of the first temple, and trace its origin 
to that event and make Solomon its great 
founder, as God's vicegerent in its crea- 
tion. And it is indeed only within a few 
years past that a generation of doubting 
Thomases has arisen which demands the 
proof that even these things are so, and 
has applied the same tests to the .Masonic 
history as has been for a century past ap- 
plied to all sacred and profane history — 
to the end that the truth might be elimi- 
nated from the myths and traditions 
which have so long misled even the world 
of letters. 

"My hearers (whether Masons or not) 
can recall the times almost a score when 
they have heard not only the nonsense we 
have related as touching the times so 
long remote, but coming down to our 
own day and country these blind leaders 
have time and again, so often proclaimed 
as a fact, that they no doubt believe that 
'all the general officers of the Revolution 
were Masons except the traitor Arnold, 



and that all the Presidents of the Repub- 
lic were Masons.' As we penned these 
lines, we received through the mail a 
circular, from a publishing house at the 
national capital, named for a man who 
when a boy would not tell a lie, asking 
our aid as a Mason to further the sale of 
a series of Presidential portraits they had 
executed. And what think you was the 
consideration upon which they presumed 
to invoke our aid as a Mason and an 
officer in a Masonic body- whose juris- 
diction is co-extensive with that of the 
State? That circular publishes to the 
world with solemn emphasis that all the 
Presidents were Masons! As happily 
there have been no traitors (as in the 
case of the Generals) so the usual ex- 
ception of one as in the case of Judas 
and Arnold is not made by this class of 
buncombe orators — of which orator Puff 
is a fair exponent. 

"Now, in all candor and with all 
proper respect to our brethren, to this 
audience, not overlooking my own self- 
respect as a Mason and a man of ma- 
ture age, I must declare that such stuff, 
while it may possibly (though we can 
divine no good reason) be 'told to the 
marines,' certainly to all such heresies we 
may apply the injunction of David in 
his lament over Saul, 'tell it not in Gath, 
publish it not in the streets of Askelon.' 
Such tales will surely, sooner or later, 
return to our hurt as they ever should. 

"It is always the safest course to pre- 
sume that the audience is quite as intel- 
ligent as ourselves, and likely to be as 
well informed upon historical topics, 
whether relating to the history of the 
world, the church, the nation, or to Ma- 
sonry even, as an institution of great age 
and universal diffusion among men. The 
History of Freemasonry is not one of 
our mysteries — secrets we truly have, and 

'All secrets till they are once known 
Are wonderful * * *.' 

"Now it is too bad upon these annual 
occasions, and at home, to repeat parrot- 
like such stale legends — no, they are not 
legends even, which are defined to be 
'doubtful narratives,' for there is no tend- 
ing to mislead. In the light of this evi- 
dence, then, we can assure-even the ene- 
mies of our order that Adam and Enoch 
and their long line of successors, ante 
and post-diluvian, are perfectly free from 



;o 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



Tune, 1921. 



the sin and odium the Antis would at- 
tach to the C M 
teenth centurv 



tach to the 'Morgan-killers' of the nine- 



' — Tis true, 'tis pity : 
And pity 'tis, 'tis true,' 

that even Solomon was no Mason. With 
all his wisdom, great as it was, he knew 
no more of the mysteries of Freema- 
sonry than did the beautiful (of course 
she was beautiful) Queen of Sheba who 
came from afar to adore his wisdom and 
the temple he built. Nor is there any 
evidence, However faint, to prove that 
either of the St. Johns, the austere and 
the lovely followers of all that is good 
in heaven or on earth, were Masons, be- 
yond the wish that it were so, of the 
Christian portion of the universal broth- 
erhood. Nor is it true that all the presi- 
dents, from Washington to Grant in- 
cluded, were or are Masons. The first 
was, the last is not. And what would 
the spirits of those Anti-masons, the elder 
and younger Adams, and Van Buren, and 
Fillmore say to the cruel accusation, 
could they but wing their way back to 
the earth and throw back the lie in the 
face of their falsifiers. It is true, how- 
ever — and the truth should be told — that 
Arnold, the single traitor of his age and 
country, was a Mason, as is well attested 
by the records of his lodge in Connecti- 
cut, his native state. 

"When and wherever Masonry did 
originate, it was the work of man's hand 
and although we believe it to be the old- 
est, if not the best, of human benevolent 
and social institutions, it certainly com- 
mends itself to the enlightened consid- 
eration and unprejudiced judgment of 
men for what it is, and what it has done 
as one of the conservators of human ac- 
tion. 

"Our fathers a century since, were 
content with the three degrees of sym- 
bolic Masonry, which are universally dif- 
fused among men ; but their children fell 
from the state of purity through the sin 
of ambition, which is older than the orig- 
inal sin of the most orthodox theologian 
of the old school— for by it an archangel 
fell and men and Masons have inherited 
the taint, and we of to-day are taxed to 
keep up the cumbersome machinery in 
order to gratify our pride and inherit 
the honors of official rank. 

"In future, then, men and brothers 



and Sir Knights, let us be content to own 
the truth we profess to revere and yield 
a willing allegiance to the spirit of re- 
search which is the grand characteristic 
of the age. The most notable event in 
the history of modern Masonry is the 
spirit of inquiry which now animates the 
intelligent brotherhood. The labors of 
such historians and antiquarians as Fin- 
dell in Germany, Lyon in Scotland, and 
Hughan and Woodford in England, have 
done much, very much, to remove the 
rubbish which has so long blinded our 
way in our efforts to find the truth." 

Prof. Parvin's Library. 

I have mentioned above some of the 
offices which he held but perhaps the 
greatest service he did for the masonic 
order was to found and supervise for 
many years the lodge library in Cedar 
Rapids, Iowa. That library was at that 
time, I think, the largest library for se- 
cret societies in the world. I may be 
mistaken about this, but that is my in- 
formation at all events. It contained 
over ten thousand volumes and Profes- 
sor Parvin was the man who had them 
in charge, I tnink the man who orig- 
inated it. It would seem that the testi- 
mony of such a man on such a subject 
ought to be decisive. It is not to be sup- 
posed that Freemasonry will change their 
ritual and begin to tell the truth. The 
probability is that the men who write 
such articles as was published in the 
"Daily News" believe such statements to 
be the truth, accepting them without 
question, repeat them and so the false 
history is perpetuated. 

My honored father used to say, "Satan 
is the god of all lodges." I am inclined 
to think that he was not mistaken in this 
statement. Satan is a liar as well as a 
murder, a liar and the father of lies. 



THE CRAFT ON ITS ANTIQUITY. 

Grand Master Lindsay, of the Grand 
Lodge of North Carolina (1919)^ has 
this to say about Masonic antiquity: 

"If there were just some way to weed 
out all the fool fables which often render 
ridiculous the noble Order of Masonry, 
it would be better for the standing of the 
fraternity. No fault should be found 
with the allegorical teaching included, 
but when orators of supposed intelli- 



June, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



51 



gence gravely tell the gullible multitude 
at Masonic picnics and on other public 
occasions that Masonic lodges were in 
operation before the Deluge, that our 
present Ritual has been handed down 
from the days of King Solomon, that 
there has never been a President of the 
United States who was not a Mason, that 
all signers of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence were Masons, except Benedict 
Arnold, who by the way was a Mason, 
it is enough to make an Egyptian mummy 
laugh. The writer once heard a much 
traveled visiting Brother seriously de- 
clare in a lodge at Raleigh that he had 
visited lodges in India which had records 
running back six thousand years. Ana- 
nias and Baron Munchausen were para- 
gons of veracity as compared with that 
Brother." — Proceedings Grand Lodge 
Nevada, 1920, page 66. 



VICE-PRESIDENT COOLIDGE. 

Copy of Letter Sent to Vice-President 
Coolidge. 
Degolia, Pennsylvania, March 12, 1921. 
Hon. Calvin Coolidge, 

Washington, D. C. 
Dear Sir : 

The February (1921) issue of the Christian 
Cynosure (Chicago) quotes Mr. Henry F. 
Long, your secretary, concerning yourself as 
follows : 

"The Governor [of Massachusetts] is not a 
Mason, but holds them in high esteem as a 
patriotic, God-fearing association." 

Very many men who were once affiliated 
with the Order, some of them having taken 
many of the degrees, have testified to the con- 
trary of your conviction. The court records of 
Niagara County, New York, in the trial of 
Masons for the murder of William Morgan 
(1826), corroborate their testimony. For the 
oaths and obligations of Freemasonry as sworn 
to in Court, see 13th Volume Wendell's Report, 
New York. 

As to patriotism and God-fearing, permit 
me to lay before you the teachings of Masonic 
standard authorities, as to the position of the 
order on these points. The quotations as the 
enclosed copy shows, are set forth in a letter 
sent to President Harding. Masonic lodge 
libraries will substantiate the truthfulness of 
these quotations. 

Very respectfully yours, 

(Signed) J. C. Young. 



LODGE POLITICS. 

Among the purely personal appoint- 
ments that President Harding has made 
is that of D. R. Crissinger, of Marion, 
Ohio, whose nomination for comptroller 



of the currency has been sent to the Sen- 
ate for confirmation. Mr. Crissinger is 
a close friend of President Harding, and 
although a Democrat he supported his 
fellow townsman in the campaign. He is 
a Mason, Elk, Knight of Pythias and an 
Eagle. — The Evening Mail, March 12, 
1921. 



SHALL WE BE POPULAR OR RIGHT? 

Secret lodges are popular, but are they 
right? If they are, it is a strange anom- 
aly that their advocates will not discuss 
them with anti-secret men. 

Darkness is good for bad things; but 
light and free discussion is the home of 
Christian and popular liberty. What 
American would consent to have our 
laws enacted in secret and executed by 
secret police? And yet under the charm 
of the wand of the "Master" men bow 
their submissive necks under the high- 
sounding pretensions of benevolence and 
philanthropy. 

It is possible to call evil good; and we 
believe that even lodgemen scarcely claim 
that their systems are really good, but 
only that they are expedient. 

They do claim that if they live up to 
the rules of Masonry, it is all they need. 

But their living such lives is wholly 
their own doing. If such were possible, 
men would not need to separate them- 
selves from those accidentally infirm and 
from women and children, and band 
themselves together in order to become 
moral and good. 

The truth is man cannot by himself 
even become moral. Only the Gospel 
with its Mediator and sacrifice for sin 
has ever lifted any from degradation and 
barbarism; and it seems strange that in 
a Christian land men ever would or could 
think differentlv. 

W. H. Davis. 

"Wheaton, Illinois. 



Wilhelm Hohenzollern is said to be 
short financially. Let him lug stove- 
wood for sonic Holland baker. 



There are more nations buried than 
are on top of the earth. And every 
one that has passed, died of the disease 
of national sin. 



52 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



June, 1921. 



^1 M M I ! I M 1 1 1 M M 1 1 1 i 1 1 1 1 1 ! 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 i 1 M 1 1 ! 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 li i 1 1 ; 1 1 M 1 1 1 1 1 r b i I M f 1 1 1 1 1 1 i i 1 1 K 1 1 1 1 k 1 1 i 1 1 1 1 1 ^ 



The Question of the Hour 



By E. E. FLAGG 

AUTHOR OF 

"Holden Wit* Cords." 



'i 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 i i 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 i 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 i 1 i 1 1 1 1 i 1 1 1 1 i 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 S 1 1 1 1 i 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 b 1 1 1 1 1 r= 



CHAPTER XI— Concluded. 

"And that no man might buy or sell 
save he that had the mark or the name of 
the beast or the number of his name," 
slowly repeated Martin Treworthy. 

"But I always thought the beast was 
popery. Commentators explain it so," 
added Nelson, innocently. 

"When I see prophecy fulfilled right 
before my eyes I don't have to go to the 
D. D.'s" returned Martin, dryly. "But I 
hain't got no grudge against Masonry for 
anything it has done to me, though I re- 
member in one of the first battles of the 
war how, as we were retiring, I turned 
right back in the very face of the rebs as 
they were dashing down hill — I don't 
know what possessed me unless it was 
the spirit of Gideon — and picked up our 
colors and carried them safe into camp ; 
but I never got any promotion for it, 
though I was told if I'd only been a 
Mason I would have got promoted fast 
enough." 

"That was shameful injustice," said 
Nelson, indignantly. 

"I want you to understand," replied 
Martin Treworthy, coolly, "that its losing 
me a pair of shoulder-straps don't make it 
that there's any debt or credit account be- 
tween us. Why, I read that thirteenth 
chapter in Revelations nigh a hundred 
times on my bended knees before the 
Lord revealed to me what it meant. It 
was the Spirit of the Lord that taught me 
to hate Masonry, not anything it has done 
to me or mine. It seemed as if I could 
see the beast, and the long procession of 
worshipers filing up — lawyers that want- 
ed clients, and ministers that wsfrited 
pulpits, and politicians that wanted office ; 
and all the murderers and adulterers and 
rumsellers that wanted to get clear of the 
gallows and the jail; small and great, rich 
and poor, bond and free, wearing his 
mark on their foreheads or in their hands. 
Then the thought came to me that wor- 
ship always implies a religion of some 
kind, and so the beast must represent 



some universal religion. And as it was 
in the likeness of a lamb, but not the 
Lamb as it had been slain, it must be a 
religion of works without any atonement. 
And with that the Holy Spirit flashed the 
truth right into my mind. As Masonry 
required worship without Christ, and 
promised salvation without repentance, it 
was the only religion that would suit the 
natural heart everywhere. And I saw 
that in its pride, lust of power, blasphemy, 
and spirit of persecution, it was an image 
of the old papal beast; and every secret 
order, whether it was in Russia, Africa 
or America, was an image of Masonry. 
A religion that will suit everybody, Jew 
or Christian or heathen, must be the same 
in principle the world over, and yet be 
able to change its outward shape. That 
is what Masonry does in all the little 
secret orders ; it changes its shape, but it 
is the same thing at heart— anti-Christ, 
whose coming is with all manner of de- 
ceiveableness. And when the Lord 
showed me this I was astonished like 
Ezekiel by the river of Chebar. But I 
knew there was more light to come. So 
I considered further on the matter, and 
I saw that until the time of the end all the 
great world powers like slavery and rum 
and Mormonism would 'agree to give their 
kingdom unto the beast.' And from the 
day that the Spirit of the Lord revealed 
this to me— mind, I hadn't read a tract, 
book, or paper about it then— I've fought 
the evil thing with might and main, and 
I mean to keep on fighting it to the last. 
To see the victory will be for younger 
eyes than mine, but I'm satisfied so long 
as I know who my Leader is." 

And the grizzly-headed hero of more 
and different battles than Nelson ever 
dreamed of took his departure, leaving 
the latter feeling rather uncomfortable. 
He was thoroughly disgusted with the 
tyranny of the Union, while his appre- 
hensions of more serious trouble yet to 
follow made the low, monotonous under- 
tone of Martin Treworthy's speech seem 



June, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



like the far off thunders of a coming 
judgment. 

Could he have overhead a conversation 
that was going on meanwhile in one of 
the basement saloons at which the new 
mayor, in due respect to his Masonic 
vows, had found it convenient to wink at, 
it would only have darkened his musings. 

Beside a table covered with green cloth, 
each with a glass of beer before him, sat 
two men. In the features of one was a 
hint of Celtic extraction; he had very 
white teeth that, when he smiled, seemed 
to have the treacherous gleam of a wild 
beast's, was graceful in person, and rather 
particular about his dress — a kind of 
Americanized Robespierre. It is not an 
enjoyable fact to ponder, but it is a fact 
nevertheless, that we have in our midst 
men of the same type with that blood- 
thirsty triumvirate who ruled Paris in 
1793, though our American sun of free- 
dom shines rather too brightly in their 
eyes, and they generally burrow in the 
darkness of illicit saloons and secret 
lodges. 

The other man was coarse-featured, 
large-boned, much given to profanity, and 
wore a Knight Templar's badge conspicu- 
ously displayed. The fumes of their 
cigars mingled sociably together as they 
sipped their beer and conversed in low 
and confidential tones; and, in short, they 
answered very well to that graphic de- 
scription given by David in the sixty- 
fourth psalm of the wicked "in secret 
counsel." 

"Don't forget a -good stiff glass of 
whisky all round to prime 'em up for the 
job, Reynolds," said the personage first 
described. At which reminder the other 
only nodded as if he was in no danger of 
neglecting so important a matter, while 
the first one continued. 

"That cranky fool, Newhall, must be 
made to hold his tongue. All the oppo- 
sition to the strike has been stirred up by 
him." 

"Not so easy ; he's deep as a well." 

"A knife for traitors," was the signifi- 
cant response. This laconic remark, how- 
ever, was not quite original, being in 
reality quoted from a late speech of Herr 
Most 

"If you ain't a cool one, Gerrish!" 
exclaimed the other with an oath, clap- 



ping his companion on the shoulder. 
"You'd bo a match for the devil himself." 

"Hah!" was the scornful reply. "Keep 
that old woman's talk to yourself. 1 don't 
believe in a devil no more than I do in a 
God. Men are what we've got to deal 
with in this age of the world." 

Reynolds was used to being snubbed 
and lectured by his chief, and his only 
answer was to drain his glass and meekly 
wait further orders. 

But of this precious pair, in whose 
creed dynamite and whisky were the lead- 
ing articles of belief, we shall give the 
reader out of respect to his moral and 
religious scruples at being placed in such 
company, but the briefest possible 
glimpse. Reynolds was blacklisted — dis- 
charged for his own fault, but he repre- 
sented himself as persecuted for belong- 
ing to the Union, and played the martyr 
role with such success that he found him- 
self hoisted at once into a place of power 
and notoriety very much to his liking, 
and where he drew a salary larger than 
his lost wages. He was obliged to play 
second fiddle to Gerrish, however, for 
though not so much of a bully and a 
blackguard the latter was a born leader, 
and by far the more dangerous of the 
two. He had not been long in Jackson- 
ville, and Nelson as well as many of his 
fellow-workmen were inclined to resent 
this dictatorial sway of one whose ante- 
cedents were so little known, quite forget- 
ting that there was a slight inconsistency 
involved in such a state of feeling. Had 
they not sworn to obey all the rules and 
regulations of the Grand Lodge, thus 
virtually placing themselves under the 
complete despotic control of its chief — a 
man they knew as little about as they 
did of the Shah of Persia? 

The variety of uses to which secrecy 
may be put is an important but neglected 
branch of knowledge among the great 
bulk of its simple-minded member-. 
Missionaries in Africa tell us o\ secret 
societies among the natives, under whose 
wings of darkness, demon-worship, kid- 
napping and cannibalism are as freely 
practiced a- more civilized crimes in the 
safe shelter of a lodge of Masons, Odd- 
fellows, or Knights of Pythias. How 
long before Christians in America will be 
as wise as their brethren in Africa and 
refuse to fellowship secretism in any 



54 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



June, 1921. 



form even when disguised in the holy gar- 
ments of temperance? How long before 
temperance workers will understand that 
the cause of God and the cause of the 
devil can not be fought with the same 
weapons ; that in taking the vows of 
secrecy they are actually striking hands 
with all the Masonic saloon-keepers, 
brewers and distillers, as well as their 
Masonic allies in our courts and legis- 
lative halls? How long before honest 
workingmen will understand that when 
they join a secret trades union they are 
joined as one body to the dark, aristo- 
cratic, monarchical, anti-republican insti- 
tution of Freemasonry ; and through it 
with the Nihilist, the Socialist, the Ku 
Klux — men whose profession it is to stir 
up rebellion, revolution, anarchy ; and 
who without the aid of liquor, labor's 
greatest enemy and curse, could not 
achieve half the triumphs they have in 
the past or will in the future unless God 
in his mercy opens the eyes of our nation 
to its danger? 

There can be but one answer to such 
questions. Society will never frown upon 
any evil that the church tolerates. Po- 
litical action will never be taken against 
it till Christian voters and Christian states- 
men demand such action. When Zion 
puts on her beautiful garments ; when she 
casts out of her midst with scorn and 
loathing everything that would defile her 
purity; when she shows herself "terrible 
as an army with banners" against every 
form of sin and iniquity, then the honest 
temperance worker and the hard-handed 
son of labor will no longer believe a lie ; 
and evil men and seducers will have a 
foretaste of the coming terrors of that 
Judgment Day when they shall say to the 
rocks and to the mountains, "Fall on us 
and hide us from the wrath of the 
Lamb." 

CHAPTER XII. 

THE YOKE OF BONDAGE. 

The yoke of fraternal love and duty 
fastened so long ago on Nelson's boyish 
shoulders by a mother's dying hand, had 
often been a fetter on the freedom of his 
personal action — on his soul, never. But 
when he ignorantly degraded his man- 
hood to wear the yoke of a secret labor 
union, he found, like many another hon- 
est American working man, that he had 



sold his birthright of liberty for a mess 
of pottage. He had never been a very 
active member, but had contented himself 
for the most part with simply paying his 
dues, and cherishing the comfortable 
delusion that he was thereby helping to 
rear up a breakwater against the greed 
and tyranny of capital. Thus he was as 
ignorant as any outsider of the dark de- 
signs hatched in its secret conclaves ; or 
how, little by little, through the operation 
of that law in lodgery, certain as any law 
in mechanics (by which the unprincipled, 
unscrupulous element as surely rises to 
the top as the decent, virtuous, Christian 
element sinks to the bottom), a new class 
of leaders developed by the present crisis 
were coming to the front, whose regard 
for the laborer was like that of a wolf 
for a sheep. 

Nelson was slowly waking up to the 
consciousness that their yoke was hard 
and their burden anything but light. His 
hope of a speedy marriage, his dream of 
some quiet prairie farm w T here his life 
and Martha's should glide away in rural 
peace, the dream which had so often come 
to him in the heat and grime of the 
workshop like a vision of cool waters — 
all this he must put far away into the 
indefinite future. The faster Tom re- 
gained health and strength the nearer 
came the time when he must take up his 
old burden of anxiety. And the worst 
of it was he was powerless. He could 
say some very true and bitter things of 
the few leaders who, to serve their own 
selfish ends, were willing to keep three 
or four hundred men out of employment. 
But he must bear it, though the cords 
w r ere already beginning to cut into the 
flesh. 

Nelson Newhall was not a physical or 
moral coward to be afraid of men he 
despised — and yet he was afraid. We 
bespeak for him the reader's charity, 
however, as well as for the minister 
whom one or two Masons or Odd-fellows 
in his congregation can intimidate so 
effectually; not that they wield as indi- 
viduals more influence than others, but 
the whole lodge power stands behind 
them — that subtle, mysterious, Satanic 
force of which Revelation is full of dim 
hints ; that backs up every popular in- 
iquity ; that can not -be grasped, or meas- 
ured, or analyzed ; that sways politicians, 



June, 1921, 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



controls legislatures, gags the pulpit, per- 
secutes the saints ; and which to resist 
means in short either more courage or 
more faith in God than most men possess. 

But matters were coming to a crisis. 
The dangerous, vicious element among 
the strikers was as wax in the hands of 
the leaders ; and in fact Mr. Gerrish, who 
was a professional labor agitator, had in- 
stigated more than one riot and directed 
more than one assassination while en- 
gaged in that congenial field among the 
Molly Maguires of the coal regions. 

The day the non-unionists were ex- 
pected to arrive passed oft quietly, though 
an extra force of police had been engaged 
in anticipation of trouble. But the fol- 
lowing night the watchman, in his tour of 
inspection through the works, discovered 
a suspicious-looking parcel, which, on ex- 
amination, was found to be an infernal 
machine containing enough dynamite to 
wreck the entire building. That the per- 
petrators of the act designed to destroy 
life as well as property there could be no 
doubt. Jacksonville was thrown into a 
fever of excitement over the diabolical 
attempt ; the papers chronicled it in star- 
tling headlines ; men and women discussed 
it with blanched faces ; and those astute 
gentlemen, the detectives, hastened to the 
spot, made an examination of the prem- 
ises, looked wise, and stated to the satis- 
faction of all inquisitive interviewers that 
they had found a clue, but did not wish 
at present to give further information. 

Stephen Howland, with the sturdy yeo- 
man blood in his veins that had loved jus- 
tice and hated tyranny since the day it 
wrested Magna Charta from an unwilling 
king, could not but feel a keen interest in 
the struggle, despite his horror of such 
lawless methods of warfare on the part 
of the laborers. 

"What a pity." he said to Mr. Basset, 
"that working men can't be made to see 
that when a third party with interests dia- 
metrically opposite to either, steps in be- 
tween them and their employers, it must 
only lengthen and make more deadly this 
unnatural strife between labor and capi- 
tal. They are robbed on three >ides — by 
the selfishness of rich men. the ambition 
of designing leaders, and the grog-shop. 
Such is the terrible triumvirate that the 
American laborer has to face to-day ; and 
if Christian people can not force some- 



thing like Chri-tian action on our gov- 
ernment in relation to these evils, we 
must expeel a reign of socialism sooner 

or later/' 

"That's so/ 5 returned Mr. Basset, in 
his easy way of agreeing or seeming to 
agree with everybody he happened to be 
talking with that Stephen found at times 
secretly exasperating. He" had begun to 
feel, without exactly knowing why. that 
Mr. Basset was not exactly hi- ideal of a 
reformer. 

\ few like Martin T re wort by had the 
hardihood to suggest that the' package 
with its terrible contents was never placed 
there by the prime movers of the plot, 
but by men whose secret lodge oath of 
unquestioning obedience made them lit 
tools in the hands of communistic leaders 
to do their unpleasant or dangerou- 
work ; and unless the secret societies 
which hatched such conspiracies were 
suppressed, and that speedily, by the .stern 
hand of law, dynamite outrages would 
become as frequent in America as in 
Europe. 

"I've put in considerable money into 
the Union." said Xelson, "but I never put 
in a cent to buy dynamite with,, or to 
clothe in soft raiment men lazy and un- 
principled enough to want to live off the 
earnings of honest labor. It is time this 
thing was stopped. We are forfeiting 
what the laborer can least afford to lose 
— all public sympathy and respect. But 
we can't handle communists in America 
just a.- Bismarck handles them in Ger- 
many." 

"Masonic Congressmen can't anyway/' 
retorted .Martin, dryly. "It would be too 
much like passing sentence of hanging 
on a family relation. Look at the way 
they've done in Utah — how they've let 
this foul thing, polygamy, spread and 
spread, and why? Because the only wax- 
to stop polygamous marriages is to sup- 
press the secret oaths o\ the Endowment 
Mouse, and^/ongress would no more put 
its hand to a bill to do that than it would 
take a poker by the hot end. Your aver- 
age politician bates to burn his fing 
And it is with dynamiters exactl) a- it is 
with Mormon-, they don't dare to lay 
the axe at the root of the tree. Touch 
one secret order and the whole Masonic 
Grand Lodges would come tumbling 
down about their ears like the temple of 



56 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



June, 1921. 



Dagon on the Philistine lords — and they 
know it.'' 

"But there is this terrible grog-shop 
question to be settled first," said Nelson. 
"I hold to taking one thing at a time." 

"Just what the Anti-masons said in 
1835 when the slavery question came up. 
And so they stopped fighting the lodge to 
fight slavery. And what was the result? 
The lodge sneaked South in the Morgan 
uprising, laid the egg of treason and 
brooded it thirty years till in '61 the full- 
grown viper crawled out to plant its 
fangs in the nation's heart. And all the 
while slavery kept growing more power- 
ful getting a stronger hold on the gov- 
ernment, and all the business interests of 
the country, till it was strong enough for 
rebellion. Masonry stood behind it just 
as it stands behind the saloon now, get- 
ting up secret temperance orders to do 
the bidding of the Masonic Grand Lodge 
— the very bulwark of the dram-shop. 
Dispose of this question and let some 
other one come up, and it will skulk be- 
hind that — and so on ; and the end of it 
all would take a wiser man than I am to 
foresee." 

To this speech, delivered with Martin 
Treworthy's usual vigor of utterance, 
Xelson could think of no better answer- 
ing argument than this : 

"Anyway, the saloon in its immediate 
effects is worse than the lodge. I've suf- 
fered enough from the rum curse to be 
sure of that. Of course I don't know 
anything about slavery, but I should say 
it was a rather worse evil than Masonry." 

Martin Treworthy stopped in his walk 
up and down the room. 

"Don't you suppose I know what slav- 
ery is? Look there." 

He tore off his jacket, and disclosed his 
bare shoulders, ridged and seamed with 
terrible scars. * 

Xelson stood aghast at the sight. 

""Why, Mr. Treworthy, what does that 
mean ?" 

Martin smiled grimly. 

"It only means that when you were a 
little shaver not out of long clothes, I 
was finding out what slavery was. Those 
are the marks of a whipping that I took 
at the hands of slave hunters thirty years 
ago for refusing to tell them the hiding- 
place of a fugitive; and why the ruffians 
didn't finish off with a bullet through my 



brains I never could tell, unless they 
thought it unlikely I should ever come to 
after such usage." 

"Terrible," said Nelson. "You suf- 
fered all this to give liberty to a fellow- 
being, and yet this is the first I ever knew 
of it. You are a strange man, Mr. Tre- 
worthy." 

"I have had no call to tell of it before," 
said Martin, coolly, "though every single 
one of these scars I am prouder of than 
I should be of the stars of a Major Gen- 
eral. I only want you to know that I 
have made about as intimate acquaintance 
with the devil of slavery as you have 
with the devil of the whisky jug, and for 
my part I would rather have fetters on 
my body than on my soul." 

A momentary silence fell between 
them, and then Nelson said with a sigh, — 

"I really believe if it weren't for Tom 
I would go away from here. Even hiring 
out on a farm would be better. I could 
at least sell my labor at my own price 
without anybody's else dictation." 

And at that Martin was wise enough to 
be satisfied with the advantage gained, 
and held his peace. 

^ % ^ :jj %. %. % sfs % ^ 

Meanwhile the sagacious detectives be- 
fore mentioned had unriddled their clue 
— a piece of paper with some writing on 
it dropped near the place where the dyna- 
mite had been deposited, along with other 
bits of circumstantial evidence needless 
to particularize here ; and in their Sol- 
omon-like wisdom were not simply sus- 
picious but absolutely certain that Nelson 
Newhall was the real perpetrator of the 
attempted outrage. 

(To be continued.) 



NEW SEMI-MASONIC ORDER. 

Boys Fourteen Years Old May Become 

Members. 

Sons of members of the Masonic order 
are eligible to membership in the Order 
or Builders, a new society just organized 
here, which, it is expected, will soon be- 
come nation-wide in its scope. Member- 
ship is open to boys between the ages of 
14 and 21. An advisory council of at 
least five Master Masons will help the 
boys. 



There's a pathetic paradox in the fact 
that we are no nearer heaven because 
living is higher. 



June, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



57 



Mtto* of 0uv Work 



A Committee of the Board of Directors 
is planning an Annual National Conven- 
tion of about two days for some time 
next fall, probably in September. The 
principal part of the time will be taken 
up with addresses and testimonies. We 
are to meet in the Sherman Street Chris- 
tian Reformed Church, of Grand Rapids, 
Michigan, Rev. R. B. Kuiper, pastor. 
Further and more extended notices, of 
course will be given. 



IOWA CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION 
CONVENTION. 

The Iowa Christian Association held 
its Annual Convention in the Reformed 
Presbyterian Church at Morning Sun, 
Iowa, April 26th and 27th. This has 
been a real battlefield for the cause of 
the Association in past years, when Rev. 
Trumball presided over the work of the 
Association. The efforts of those days 
was not in vain, as is evidenced by the 
fact that there is no lodge in Morning 
Sun to this day. The present members 
of this church are still staunch in their 
opposition to secrecy. The convention 
was received very cordially and very 
comfortably entertained by the pastor, 
Rev. H. G. Patterson, and his people. 

There was not a large delegation from 
outside communities, and having no 
lodges in the place, we did not have 
many, if any, who were members of se- 
cret organizations. Nevertheless the 
convention was a success, and had the 
weather permitted there would doubtless 
have been a much larger attendance. 

The program arranged for was car- 
ried out with but one exception. One 
person on the program failed to get to 
the convention, and this was unavoidable, 
because of sickness in his home. 

The success of the convention was due 
largely to the work of Rev. W. B. Stod- 
dard who had been holding meetings and 
working up an interest in this work in 
the surrounding communities. He had 
held some twenty-seven services, and we 
feel that much good was accomplished. 
He also addressed the convention three 
times, being on the program for two 
numbers, and filling in with his Chart 
talk, which was excellent, where the va- 



cancy was made in the program. 

President Charles Blanchard was 
pected to be in attendance at the conven- 
tion, but being called to another like- 
gathering could not be present. How- 
ever, he sent a young man, whom he is 
training for the work, from Wheaton 
College, Mr. Arnold V. Pent, who gave 
two addresses before the convention. 
The address of Rev. J. M. Coleman of 
Bloomington, Indiana, on the subject. 
"The Open Game," was timely and much 
appreciated. 

Rev. A. Norrbom and Rev. C. Mur- 
ing each addressed the convention, and 
their addresses were in keeping with 
sound Bible doctrine, and gave good in- 
struction to those who heard. 

The Association has been active in 
seeking to spread information and give 
light on this great rival of the church, 
and has sent out over eight hundred let- 
ters during the year, each letter inclos- 
ing three tracts and a circular let- 
ter bearing on the subject in hand. 
These tracts were sent to the various 
ministers of the state. This work is to 
continue as funds will permit. 

Rev. A. M. Malcolm was re-elected 
as President, Rev. W. R. Emerson, Sec- 
retary ; Rev. C. Maring, Treasurer, and 
Rev. H. G. Patterson, Vice President. 

May the work be prospered much dur- 
ing the coming year. 

W. R. Emersox, Secretary. 



SOME IMPRESSIONS OF CONVEN- 
TION OF THE IOWA CHRISTIAN 
ASSOCIATION AT MORNING 
SUN, IOWA. 
My first impression was, a feeling of 
disappointment at the numerical small- 
ness of the meeting. I had promised 
myself' and others a large attendance. 
The attendance of delegates from sur- 
rounding towns and country was disap- 
pointing, when we take into considera- 
tion that there are so many churches and 
Christian people in that section of Iowa 
that are in sympathy with the anti-secret 
movement. However. 1 hasten to ex- 
plain, that the weather was very unfavor- 
able, and the almost continuous rain made 
conditions such that a general attendance 
was not feasible. The later sessions were 
very well attended and the final meeting 
was quite largely attended by many who 



58 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



June, 1921, 



could not be present before. 

My second impression was 'the genial 
atmosphere surrounding the Convention. 
We were assured that we were in the 
midst of friends. We received a hearty 
welcome by the pastor in whose church 
the convention was held. He spake in 
the name of his people. The Reformed 
Presbyterian Church is one of the 
churches of Christ which stand four 
square on the secret order subject, while 
many others have yielded to the pressure 
to let down the bars in deference to the 
demands of anti-christ. A strong con- 
gregation in Morning Sun, and another 
strong one in the country gave us the 
impression of a sincere interest and wel- 
come. These good people have exerted a 
wholesome influence in the community. 
Morning Sun has no organized lodges. 
While there are secret society men in the 
town, they have not been able to form a 
local organization. There has been a 
strong right in the years past. Mr. W. 
Y. Orr of Loveland, Col., wrote a letter 
which was read to the Association, in 
which he gave some account of the early 
struggle when he lived in Morning Sun. 
He was a leader in the contest, and suf- 
fered persecution, but the secret society 
forces were so far defeated as to be 
unable to maintain successfully an or- 
ganization. 

A third impression was, the widespread 
interest and earnestness of purpose which 
pervaded the -Convention. 

It was apparent that the delegates and 
officers who went to this Convention were 
filled with an earnest and sincere spirit. 
The gloomy weather and small number 
did not deaden the zeal and earnestness 
of those present. The devotional exer- 
cises were spiritual in tone. Sincerity 
pervaded the addresses. The spirit of 
faith and humility was manifest. All 
realized that there was a tremendous 
force against us, but that the Lord is on 
our side, the side of light and truth, and 
that "One shall chase a thousand, and two 
chall put ten thousand to flight." A per- 
sistency of purpose pervaded the people. 
\Ye were encouraged by the presence of 
our friend Peterson of Lyons, Iowa. He 
had not been at the meetings of former 
years, but has been persistently and with 
some success, contending against the 
lodge evils. We were glad to meet this 



brother. He is a fearless business man, 
who is not afraid to take a stand for 
right lest it might interfere with his busi- 
ness. Thus we were encouraged, and we 
would continue to witness for Christ and 
against those institutions which exclude 
his name. The Convention was a suc- 
cess, an inspiration. Plans were discussed 
for our next Convention. There is no 
thought of deserting the work. May 
God's blessing be upon his true servants 
everywhere. 

A. M. Malcolm, 
President I. A. C. 



AN APPRECIATION. 

Morning Sun, Iowa, May 2, 192 1. 
Mr. Wm. I. Phillips, 
Chicago, 111. 

Dear Sir : — The Iowa State Conven- 
tion of the Christian Association was a 
success. It will result in honor to the 
Church of Christ. 

Although the rain kept many from at- 
tending who would have been there, yet 
those who were in attendance were in- 
spired with new zeal and determination 
to fight the pagan religion of secret so- 
cieties which is in direct opposition to the 
Christian Religion. 

There are no Secret Societies in Morn- 
ing Sun, thanks to such meetings held 
here in former days when Dr. Trumbull 
was pastor of the Reformed Presbyteri- 
an Church here and President of the 
Iowa Christian Association. But that 
generation is passing away and a new 
generation is springing up which is ask- 
ing the question, "What is the objection 
to Secret Societies?" Those who were 
present had this question answered. 
Those who were not present heard about 
the Convention through the advertise- 
ments and reports in the papers and 
know that there are some good Chris- 
tion people who are opposed to secret 
societies, and will be suspicious of them, 
and will not be so easily led into them. 
Then Dr. Stoddard spent the month of 
April lecturing in the various towns and 
cities in the state, thereby reaching a 
great many people with a strong testi- 
mony against the heathenish systems. 

We ought to have more such conven- 
tions. If we cease to instruct and agi- 
tate along this line, the protest of the 
informed will become less vigorous, and 



June, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



59 



the uninformed will have no protest at 
all. We must turn the light onto this sys- 
tem of darkness. Light kills everything 
that thrives in the darkness. 
Sincerely, 
H. G. Patterson, 



EASTERN SECRETARY'S REPORT. 

Rev. W. B. Stoddard. 

This finds me at the capital city in the 
Buckeye State. I am on the home run 
and only stopping at a few important 
points. I regret that time does not per- 
mit me to visit many towns in Ohio and 
Indiana where I have found good friends 
in other years. 

As the Devil has his "drive on'' we 
must do what we can to reach those who 
desire our help. Newspapers are telling 
the people that lodges that live by strik- 
ing in the dark and terrorizing those they 
do not like are one hundred per cent 
American. The Ku Klux Klan desire to 
keep their very place of meeting a secret, 
together with the names of their mem- 
bers, and yet call themselves patriotic ! 
The enemies of Christ and righteousness 
are quite generally coming to the front 
with their cry "We are the patriots !" 
Many of our citizens desire schools where 
Christian ideas shall be taught. They 
naturally do not enjoy having their chil- 
dren come home from some day school 
and announce that they have learned they 
are decendants of monkeys. The lodge 
people I am told are more than ever 
seeking the destruction of the Christian 
schools. The lodge idea that any wor- 
ship of "a. God" is good enough is of 
course in line with such action. 

At Fort Wayne, Indiana, I found our 
Lutheran friends much stirred on account 
of the lodge efforts and desiring help. I 
am announcing meetings there for May 
27th and 29th. To meet these appoint- 
ments I must shorten my trip home. The 
Iowa Convention will be reported in the 
Cynosure. The rain hindered the at- 
tendance of some but friends were 
cheered and helped. The Iowa work is 
ably manned, and will go forward in spite 
of tremendous opposition. 

Your agent made twenty-nine addresses 
during April. A driving snow storm 
prevented my reaching appointments at 
Oskaloosa, otherwise I filled the appoint- 
ments made. I spoke in the First Chris- 



tian Reformed Church, Leila, Iowa, 
twice. A driving rain made the attend- 
ance at the first meeting small. It was 
estimated there were four hundred or 
more present at the second meeting. I 
was given a kindly hearing before the 
Classis I Vila, of the Holland Reformed 
Church. Good meetings in Reformed 
and Christian Reformed churches at 
Otley and Leighton, Iowa, were held as 
planned. The lecture at Albia, Iowa, 
was in the Friends Church, and at Wash- 
ington, Iowa, in the Covenanter Church. 
Friends of the Associate Presbyterian 
Churches supported these efforts. 

I preached twice supplying the pulpit 
of the United Presbyterian Church, 
Morning Sun, Iowa, in the absence of 
the pastor and was told the Masons and 
I. O. O. F. have a few members in Morn- 
ing Sun, but have not been able as yet 
to get sufficient members to institute 
lodges. The people there have for years 
been informed regarding the character of 
lodges. An excellent opportunity to give 
anti-lodge truth was afforded me in an 
address to the school children as then- 
were gathered for their morning devo- 
tion. Sabbath, May 1st, I spoke in Chi- 
cago missions of our Mennonite friends. 
L T rged by the brother who was to have 
led the devotional services one morning at 
Wheaton College, Illinois, I gave the 
students twenty-five minutes of an anti- 
secrecy address. I especially appreciate 
opportunities of speaking to college stu- 
dents. 
.**. Lutheran friends at Glen View, Illi- 
nois, rallied to our support as in other 
years. They were happy in anticipation 
of the coming of the new pastor. Rev. 
Mr. Werfelmann, who is also a good 
friend of the X. C. A. work. Called to 
Lansing, Illinois, to address the young 
people of the Holland Reformed Church, 
Sabbath, May 8th, 1 was also privileged 
to give shore addresses in the new or- 
ganization of the Christian Reformed 
Church of Lansing, and also in the old 
mother church just over the line at 
Minister, Indiana. All meetings were 
largely attended. A Domine from Hol- 
land, Michigan, asking for lecture-help 
reported the Masons as ver\ active at 
that place. The}- plan a new temple, and 
are making a special drive for more 
members. 1 found our good friends at 



60 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



June, 1921. 



Berne, Indiana, willing as ever to help 
the good Cause. They of course in com- 
mon with the rest are feeling the money 
depression but seemed cheerful in a 
united effort to overcome the difficulties. 

A "drop in" meeting in "The Mission- 
ary Church" in the country was a sur- 
prise to me. There in the middle of the 
week a busy season, were over one hun- 
dred people gathered in the church to 
pray, and more than half were from ten 
to twenty years of age. They gave close 
attention to my anti-lodge message. 
Lutheran pastors here in Columbus, tell 
me their churches are having larger at- 
tendance. Cheer up, the Devil has not 
gotten the whole country yet ! I notice 
on every lamp post on the principal 
streets here — Columbus, Ohio — is the pic- 
ture of a girl and the letters O. U. La! 
La ! Suppose some lodge is advertising 
its vaudeville. 

It is nearly time for the train to Zanes- 
ville, Ohio, where I go for Sabbath work. 
There is much to cheer in the coming of 
the glad spring-time. Let us "look up 
and lift up." I found the Capital Uni- 
versity supported by the Ohio Synod 
Lutheran friends being enlarged and re- 
constructed. That means going ahead 
sure. I hope to reach Chicago in time 
to attend the Annual Meeting and fill ap- 
pointments in the West. 
— May 14th, 1921. 
— Columbus, Ohio. 



"LIZZIE WOODS' LETTER." 

Dear Cynosure : 

I am getting ready to go out again to 
a pitched battle against the most dread- 
ful foe of the human family — that is the 
organized secret worship of the Devil at 
the idol altars of Satan which is disin- 
tegrating and sapping the life out of the 
Church. 

A man said to my husband, "If a man 
is a Mason he is a holy man. He has 
no need to belong to the church when 
he is a Mason. There is nothing to the 
Church. My wife belongs to the church, 
and I don't bother her about it, but I 
know that the Masonic lodge is holy and 
I am satisfied that I am right. It is all 
based on the Bible." 

My husband came home and told me 
how sorry he was for the poor sinner and 
the way he is being mislead. 



We held a meeting in South Omaha 
about ten days ago and we were teaching 
them the sin of Masonry, the father of 
all the lodges, when a brother said : 

"Sister, you are right, I have quit them 
all." He said while the revival was go- 
ing on in the north end of Omaha the 
preacher asked the sinners to come to the 
altar for prayer, but there were some 
sinners that did not come and the preacher 
cried, "Why will ye die?" "Come and 
give up your sin and be saved." 

They answered, "We are Masons and 
have been taught if we live up to its 
teaching we will be saved, and we are liv- 
ing up to our obligations." 

"The preacher could not say a word," 
said this man, "for he was a 33rd degree 
Mason himself and a leader in several 
other lodges, so his own sin just shut 
his mouth." 

Yes, poor people, they are sinners al- 
ready and Masonry will make them mur- 
derers. A lot of men here in Omaha in 
September, 1919, bound themselves to- 
gether to lynch a colored man. That was 
what they printed in the newspaper of 
Omaha. The paper stated that the plot 
was planned and that they picked out 
their victim, a poor crippled colored fel- 
low and made up a lie about him and a 
white woman in the case and set the day 
to do that awful crime and did it and 
burned the court house. Now that is 
what is going on in the secret w T ork of 
the lodge. The United States is the best 
government on the globe, but let her 
preachers awake, let them look over into 
the Eastern countries ; let them read 
Ezkiel 27, and see what became of Tyrus. 
Oh, God, open the eyes of this govern- 
ment. Righteousness exalteth a nation : 
but sin is a reproach to any people (Prov. 
14:34). God help us all in America. 

A Primitive Baptist preacher said to 
me a few days ago, "Yes, the old Prim- 
itive Baptists are joining the secret or- 
ders, and the old church that has stood 
for right living is fast dying. I am go- 
ing to Alabama and see if I can get the 
old church there to give up this idol wor- 
ship and come back to the old paths. 
These secret orders are a curse to my 
people." He also said, "Sister, I heard 
you lecture on the lodge in 1919 at the 
ten meetings on Seward Street, Omaha. 
I asked a leading Methodist minister what 



June, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



61 



he thought about your lecture and he 
said, 'every word she said is right.' He 
said, 'it is the truth, it is the Bible truth, 
and too true for me. She hits me too 
hard.' ' The same Word will judge him 
at the last day when the books are opened, 
Rev. 20:12-13. God help the N. C. A. 
to sound the alarm. 

Yours for the Master's use, 
Mrs. L. W. Roberson, 
— Omaha, Nebraska. 



SOUTHERN AGENT'S REPORT. 

Rev. F. J. Davidson. 

I am on the Gospel firing line contend- 
ing for "the faith which was once deliv- 
ered unto the Saints." There can be no 
compromising ground. God's people 
must present a solid front to the enemies 
of truth. Of all modern enemies to 
truth and righteousness there are none 
more boastful and arrogant than the 
secret lodge system. Their Bible quota- 
tions, their prayers, their hymns and 
other religious ceremonies are all well 
calculated to deceive the unsuspecting 
and go-easy church members. 

I have come recently in direct contact 
with the wicked influence of the lodge 
element. Brother Ishmael Bazile Gas- 
kins, an earnest and devout young man, 
whom I had the pleasure of training 
twenty-rive years ago (his father and 
mother being members of the Saint 
Matthew Baptist Church of which I was 
pastor), was chosen as pastor of First 
Mount Calvary Baptist Church of New 
Orleans. There was a Mason who was 
also an aspirant, but Brother Gaskins re- 
ceived the larger vote and w T as declared 
choice of the church for pastor. The 
church notified the executive officers of 
the Association, of which it was a mem- 
ber, to come and examine the young man 
and if found worthy to ordain him as 
their pastor. The Masonic aspirant pro- 
tested, claiming that Gaskins was not 
fairly elected, and instead of the executive 
board examining the young man they 
sent a committee to ascertain if Gaskins 
was the choice of a majority of the 
church. The Committee's recommenda- 
tion was accepted by the church, and a 
second vote taken which resulted in a 
larger majority for Gaskins than the first 
vote. The Committee reported back the 
result to the Executive Board. The 



Masonic aspirant met the Executive Com- 
mittee again and contended that Brother 
Gaskins did not get a majority vote of 
the church. The Executive Committee 
sent another committee to ascertain the 
accuracy of the church vote. 

The church then called me in confer- 
ence to ascertain whether they were 
bound to acquiesce in the Executive 
Board's actions in their attempt to thwart 
the wishes of the church in their choice 
of a pastor. After examining the church 
records and being satisfied that they had 
acted within their rights and were under 
no obligation to yield their judgment to 
Masonic oppression, I advised them to 
call the council of orthodox Baptist 
churches and ministers to examine their 
candidate for ordination. My advice was 
accepted and the following churches and 
pastors were invited and met in council, 
to wit: Second Good Hope, Rev. A. M. 
Lewis, Bro. E. Bruce; Central, Rev. F. 
J, Davidson; Second, Rev. A. Hubbs, 
D. D.; Little Zlon, Rev. G. H. Hen- 
dricks; Beulah, Rev. E. M. Washington; 
First Zion, Rev. D. B. Fischer; Second 
Vacherie, Rev. G. James ; Toulvine, Rev. 
H. R. Diggs, B. S. The council met 
March 24th and organized by electing 
Dr. A. Hubbs, Moderator ; ' Rev. G. 
James, Secretary; Rev. D. B. Fisher, 
Catechiser. Brother Gaskins passed a 
splendid examination in Scriptural doc- 
trine, history, geography, grammar and 
mathematics, after which Brother Gas- 
kins was publicly ordained to Gospel 
ministry and installed as pastor of First 
Calvary Baptist church, Masonic chican- 
ery and objections notwithstanding. 

Dr. Hubbs is one of the old line anti- 
secret preachers of this state who was a 
correspondent to the Cynosure from 
1884 to 1893. Brother Gaskins is a strong 
young preacher and an ardent anti-secre- 
tist and a member of the Cynosure fam- 
ily. I am planning and preparing to g 
on an anti-secrecy and evangelical tour 
about May 3rd. I ask an interest in your 
prayers of the faithful of the Lord. 

Secretary Win. I. Phillips received re- 
cently the following words of apprecia- 
tion from the Assistant Librarian of the 
Yale University Library of New 
Haven, Connecticut : 

"The Library is in receipt of your 



62 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



Tune, 1921. 



primed notice that its subscription of the 
Christian Cynosure has expired with 
the May issue. Permit me to call to your 
attention the fact that the Library has 
received this publication for several years 
as a gift. Possibly this fact has been 
overlooked. I trust that the favor can 
be extended and that we shall continue 
to receive the issues regularly. If this 
can be done, I would assure you that 
we shall especially appreciate the favor." 



When our friend, Mr. F. L. McClel- 
land, of Kansas, sent us a remittance 
recently he wrote : "I am sorry that I 
can not do more for the Cause you so 
faithfully represent, for the lodge sin like 
many others is alarmingly on the in- 
crease." 

Mrs. J. Highland of Washington state 
has been friend to the Cause for many 
years. She writes : "I use my Cynosure 
to let in light whenever I get a chance, 
but it seems almost a waste of time to 
say anything against the secret orders in 

. They grow faster than weeds. 

I think nearly a hundred have joined the 
lodges here this winter and many of these 
have read tracts from the National Chris- 
tian Association. The churches are all 
manned with lodge preachers except one. 
The town folks, however, know where I 
stand and that our own son keeps out of 
the lodges, which is one thing to rejoice 
over. 

May God send his dear Son to earth 
soon, is my prayer, but 'we will work till 
Jesus comes' and then expect to hear 
Him say, 'good and faithful,' if not suc- 
cessful." 



GOVERNOR M'KINLEY'S INITIA- 
TION. 

Editor of Cynosure: 

Dr. Blanchard's articles on Masonic 
claims reminds me of Governor McKin- 
ley's lodge speech. 

About fifteen years ago, while riding 
on a train I met and conversed with a 
traveller wearing a Masonic badge and 
our conversation turned to Masonry, 
especially to the horseplay of the initia- 
tion, which he frankly acknowledged. He 
told me subsequently the following: 

"I helped to initiate McKinley, then 
Governor of Ohio, but later President of 
the United States, into a certain lodge 
degree. In the course of the initiation. 



we halted and called on McKinley for a 
speech. He consented and told us, Tt 
is the most shameful thing that I have 
ever witnessed' and 'if called upon a 
thousand times to repeat it I would a 
thousand times refuse.' 

"The Master of the Lodge asked him, 
'Do you mean to say you would dis- 
obey me?' McKinley replied emphati- 
cally, T certainly would.' The lodge men 
then seized McKinley and forced him 
through the rest of the degree and again 
called on him (McKinley) for a speech. 
McKinley repeated and emphasized his 
former statement that it was 'the most 
shameful thing I have ever witnessed 
and I would never repeat it under any 
circumstances or conditions.' " 

My informant would not tell me what 
lodge or what degree it was of which he 
spoke. To do so would "reveal" their 
pretended "secrets" and I suppose ex- 
pose him to Masonic punishment. He 
had the appearance and demeanor of an 
intelligent, cultured, sincere gentleman — 
I had almost said Christian gentleman — 
who, like thousands of lodge members, 
hate, detest and abhor the lodge but dare 
not openly denounce it for fear of its 
penalties. 

Relating this story to another trav- 
ellor, a friend of mine, a Christian gen- 
tleman and salesman and later a preacher 
of the Gospel, he said, "It was the Mystic 
Shrine degree," the special Mohammedan 
degree. I do not know of my own 
knowledge and simply relate what was 
told me. 

I doubt not that future generations will 
be told that President McKinley was an 
euthusiastic Mason and lodge official. 
George F. Woodard. 

Kalamazoo, Michigan. 



A PATRIOT'S APPEAL. 

It has been said, "Eternal vigilence is 
the price of liberty." Why not then say 
to all, who love their country whose mot- 
to is "Equal rights and justice to all" : 
Show the light that is in you so that the 
world shall see it ! 

There are so many different kinds of 
lights in the world today. The light I 
wish to speak of now, meets behind bolt- 
ed or guarded doors, protected farther by 
sacred promises, or by oaths. Their light 
is hid from the world. Surely their light 



June, 1921 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



63 



must be darkness and not for the best 
interest of our government, or they 
would not use such strenuous means to 
keep their light in the dark. 

There are many testimonies by intelli- 
gent and useful men who show those or- 
ganizations to be harmful to our govern- 
ment, but on the other hand those socie- 
ties would have us believe their societies 
good because they have intelligent men 
in them. But what does that claim prove ? 
Many a smart man has wandered from 
the path of rectitude. The world's ruler 
of this world's darkness is always ready 
to capture the human family and bring 
them under the bondage of sin, and take 
away their liberty to speak openly against 
the evils of this world. He who takes 
away this heaven bought privilege, takes 
away our liberty, our freedom and our 
manhood. This is a sure result, if for 
any cause we cease to be free to act on 
principles of truth and righteousness ac- 
cording to the very best light we can get. 

Now let us consider the teachings of 
Jesus Christ, the true Light of the 
world : "The high priest then asked Je- 
sus of his disciples, and of his doctrine. 
Jesus answered him, I spake openly to 
the world; I ever taught. in the syna- 
gogue, and in the temple, whither the 
Jews always resort; and in secret have 
I said nothing" (John 18:19 and 20). 
"Then spake Jesus again unto them say- 
ing, I am the light of the world, he that 
followeth me shall not walk in darkness 
but shall have the light of life" (John 
8:12). 

Jesus said, "No man when he hath 
lighted a candle puteth it in a secret 
place neither under a bushel, but on a 
candlestick that they which come in may 
see the light" (Luke n 133). "For every 
one that doeth evil hateth the light, nei- 
ther cometh to the light lest his deeds 
should be reproved. But he that doeth 
truth cometh to the light, that his deeds 
may be made manifest, that they are 
wrought in God" (John 3:20 and 21). 

Jesus has also said, "Again, ye have 
heard that it hath been said by them of 
old time, Thou shalt not forswear thy- 
self, but shalt perform unto the Lord 
thine oaths : But I say unto you, Swear 
not at all" (Matt. 5:33 and 34). Jesus 
said, "As long as I am in the world I am 
the light of the world (John 9:5), and 



knowing he would soon leave the world 
He said to the Apostles, "Ye are the light 
of the world." "A city that is set on a 
hill cannot he hid" ( Matt. 5:14). 

This is sufficient to prove |esii>' doc- 
trines which He gave that we might walk 
in the light as He is in the light. Jesus 
said, "Every kingdom divided against 
itself is brought to desolation ; and every 
city or house divided against itself shall 
not stand" (Matt. 12:25). Shall we be 
divided and brought to desolation or 
shall we be united for righteousness and 
stand ? 

It is unnecessary to add more words. 
Jesus' words, if read understandingly, 
are sufficient to lead us into the true light. 
I have written this in the spirit of love 
and with the desire for the best interest 
of the whole human family. 

Ozias N. Barnes. 

Fayette, Ohio, May 14, 192 1. 



O Lord, help the nations to see the 
pathway which is enlightened by Thy 
Truth. 



Jabez says : If all the political prom- 
ises were potatoes, you could spud the 
whole Atlantic. 



Jabez says : Some of the politicians 
call their party platform "sound." That's 
all — except fury. 



You, yourself, brought down the high 
cost of living when you quit buying 
over-priced goods. 



The man who has everything he wants 
generally lias a lot of things belonging 
to someone else. 



In these days of profiteering it seems 
that what goes up, stays up. 



The double harness of matrimony 
won't hold for the trip unless there is a 
bridle on both tongues. 



Pity the man who doesn't have to 
work — he doesn't know how to enjoy a 

rest. 



Perfection in humanity is like the 
fourth dimension — we haven't found it 
yet. 



TREATISES, ADDRESSES, SERMONS AND TRACTS 



MODERN SECRET SOCIETIES. 

By Charles A. Blancbard, D. D., President 
Wheaton College, President National Christian As- 
sociation, Ex-President Sabbath Association, of 
Illinois, etc. 

A brief treatise for busy people and especially 
Intended for ministers and teachers. 

Part first answers objections and clears away 
the obstacles to a candid consideration of the 
fundamental questions involved. Part second 
treats of Freemasonry as the key to the whole 
subject. Part third relates to subsidiary organ- 
izations, — industrial, insurance, temperance and 
other lodges. Part fourth considers important 
questions growing out of this discussion. 320 
pages. Cloth, $1.25; paper, 75 cents. 

FOLLY, EXPENSE AND DANGER OF SE- 
CRET SOCIETIES. 

By Charles A. Blanchard, President of Whea- 
ton College. They may be rudely classified as 
religious ; e. g., the Jesuits, Freemasonry, Oddfel- 
lowship, the Knights of Pythias, etc. ; political, em 
the Know-Nothings, Knights of the Golden Circle 
the Order of American Deputies, the Ku Klujs 
Klan, the White League, etc. ; industrial, as tht 
unions of carpenters, bricklayers, conductors, en 
gineers, etc. ; insurance, as the Royal Arcanum, tit- 
Modern Woodmen, the Order of the Iron Hall, tS 
Order of United American Mechanics, etc. ; arfa 
social, as the college fraternities. 5 cents. 

WAS WASHINGTON A MASON? 

By President Charles A. Blanchard. This 
is the best contribution yet written on the 
question of Washington's relation to Free- 
masonry. 10 cents. 

MODERN PROPHETS OF BAAL. 

Or, Watchmen on Zion's Walls. By President 
C. A. Blanchard. A tract for ministers. "If 
we «ay Lord to any one who is not God, then 
we are worshippers of Baal, and if we, who are 
religious teachers, call any one Lord except the 
true God, then we are prophets of Baal." It 
shows the real relation of Masonic ministers to 
a heathen system, and gives the reasons why 
Christian preachers become prophets of Baal. 

In the appendix is a chapter on Masonic The- 
ology, taken from Mackey's "Masonic Ritualist"; 
and also "A Word to Bible Students," by Dean 
J. M. Gray, D. D., of the Moody Bible Institute. 
33 pages Postpaid, 5 cents a copy; per hundred, 
$9.00. 

MASONIC TEMPLES. 

A clear discussion of the religion of Masonry, 
by Pres. C. A. Blanchard. Contents: What is a 
Temple? Not Other Religions But the Christian 
Religion. The Lodge Bible Not the Christian 
Bible. The Masonic Religion Not the Christian 
Religion. Who or What is the Masonic God? 
The Roman Pantheon. Lodge Morals and Chris- 
tian Moral3. 32 pages. 5 cents. $3.50 per hun- 
dred. 

THE WORSHIP OF SECRET SOCIETIES 
OFFERED TO SATAN. 

Address by President Blanchard at the An- 
nual Convention of the National Christian Asso- 
ciation, May 15, 1902. 

The Mother of Secret Societies not Jesuitism, 
but Masonry. The Governing Force is Masonry. 
The Greatest Masons are Our Teachers. Is Free- 
masonry a Religion? Is the Masonic Religion Chris- 
tian? What Kind of Religion is It? Marks of 
Demon Worship. Our Duty. 24 pages ; post- 
paid. 5 cents a copy, or $1.00 per hundred. 

FRATERNITIES IN STATE SCHOOLS. 

By Pres. C. A. Blanchard. A discussion uf 
the relation of fraternities to schools «nnpo» , t«d 
by taxation. 16 pages; postpaid,. 5 cents a copy; 
a package of 12 for 30 cents. 



FINNEY ON MASONRY, 

"The Character, Claims and Practical Work* 
Ings of Freemasonry." By Ex-President Charles 
G. Finney, of Oberlin College. President Finney 
was a "bright Mason," but left the lodge when 
he became a Christian. This book has opened 
the eyes of multitudes. Cloth, $1.25; paper, 75 
cents. 

WASHINGTON, LINCOLN AND THEIR CO- 
PATRIOTS OPPOSED TO SECRET SO- 
CIETIES. 

This booklet contains fifteen portraits of 
statesmen and their testimonies vindicating them 
from any charge of adherence to secret societies. 
10 cents. 

AMERICAN FREEMASONRY 

"A Study in American Freemasonry," based 
upon Pike's "Morals and Dogma of the Ancient 
and Accepted Scottish Rite," "Mackey's Masonic 
Ritualist," "The Encyclopaedia of Freemason- 
ry" and other American masonic standard 
works. By Arthur Preuss, Editor of the Cath- 
olic Fortnightly Review. Among the chapters 
in this book are: "Is American Masonry a Re- 
ligion?" "The God of American Freemasonry," 
"American Freemasonry and the Kabbalistic 
Jehovah," "American Freemasonry and the Bi- 
ble," "Masonic Morality," etc. Cloth, 433 pages. 
Price $1.50 net. By mail $1.65. 

GRAND LODGE VS. JUDGE WHITNEY. 

Judge Daniel H. Whitney was Master of Bel 
videre Masonic Lodge, No. 60 (Illinois), when S, 
L. Keith, a member cf his lodge, murdered Ellen 
Slade. Judge Whitney, by attempting to bring 
Keith to justice, brought on himself the ven- 
geance of the lodge ; but he boldly replied to the 
charges against him, and afterwards renounced 
Masonry. 15 cents. 

FREEMASONRY: An Interpretation. 

^By Martin L. Wagner, pastor of St. Johns 
English Evangelical Lutheran Church Dayton, 
Ohio, with an introduction by the Rev. G. H. 
Gerberding, D. D., professor of Practical Theol- 
ogy in the Theological Seminary of the Evan- 
gelical Lutheran Church at Chicago, Illinois. 
This is a new book, and is a candid discussion 
of the institution Freemasonry, and offers an 
interpretation of its veiled expressions, art, 
speech, religion and e + hics, and of its symbols, 
emblems and ceremonies. This interpretation is 
based upon hints given and statements made 
by the highest Masonic authorities and tested 
in the light of sources from which these claim 
that Freemasonry is derived. Cloth, 560 pages. 
Price $1.50 net. By mail $1.65. 



THE MASTER'S CARPET. 

By Edmond Ronayne, Past Master of Key- 
stone Lodge, No. 639, Chicago. Explains the true 
source and religious meaning of every symbol of 
the Blue Lodge, showing the basis on which the 
ritual is founded. By careful perusal of this 
work a thorough knowledge of the spiritual prin- 
ciples of Freemasonry can be obtained. Every 
Mason, every person contemplating becoming a 
member of the fraternity, and even those who 
are indifferent on the subject, should procure and 
carefully read this book. 406 pages, illustrated 
with 50 engravings. $1.25. 

MASONIC SALVATION 

As taught by its standard authors. Compiled 
from standard Masonic works as proof of the 
proposition that "Freemasonry claims to be a 
religion that saves men from all sin, and purifies 
them for heaven." 20 cents. 

NATIONAL CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION 

850 W. Madison St., Chicago, 111. 




VOL. LIV. 




CHICAGO, JULY, 1921 



zn 



They talk of the inhumanity of the 
Cross, but 'twere better to talk of 
man's inhumanity to man than of 
God's injustice to His Son a thousand 
thousand times over. Christ bore our 
sins on the tree in His own body, and 
endured the wrath of God, or how ex- 
plain the meaning- of the Cross, the 
darkness, and the death? Spotless, 
sinless, perfect, yet He died the death 
of the Cross. Explain it, or the mind 
drifts from its moorings out to the 
shoreless sea of doubt. Blessed be 
God, the explanation is so simple that 
a child can understand who scarce can 
tell his letters. "He (God) hath made 
Him (Christ), who knew no sin, sin 

for us." 

DR. ANDERSON-BERRY. 




OFFICIAL ORGAN, NATIONAL CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION 
15 CENTS A COPY ESTABLISHED 1868. $1.50 A YEAR 



VOL. LIV. Xo. 3. 



CHICAGO. 



July, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 

Published Monthly by the National Christian 
Association. 



WM. I. PHILLIPS 

850 West Madison Street, Chicago. 

Managing Editor. 



TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION 

PRICE— Per year, in advance, $1.50; three 
months, on trial, thirty-five cents; single 
copies, fifteen cents. 

PRESENTATION COPIES— Many persons sub- 
scribe for the Christian Cynosure to be sent 
to FRIENDS. In such cases, if we are advised 
that a subscription is a present and not regu* 
larly authorized by the recipient, we wl 
make a memorandum to discontinue at ex- 
piration, and to send no bill for the ensuing 
year. 

BUSINESS LETTERS should be addressed to 
Wm. I. Phillips, Gen. Secy., at the above ad- 
dress. 

Entered as Second-class matter May 19, 1897, 
lit the Poit Office at Chicago, 111., under Act of 
Maroa 3, 1873. 



CONTENTS 



Lodges and the PuMie School, by Pres. 

C. A. Blanchard 07 

Smith-Towner Bill and Masonry — Grand 

Lodges Take Action 70 

Ritual Brotherhood of Railway Clerks 71 

The Question of the Hour, by E. E. Flagg 73 
How the Shriners Act, by Dr. G. A. Pegram 75 
Ceremony of Baptism, Ancient and Ac- 
cepted Scottish Rite (Continued) 77 

Snapshots, by Truthful Thomas 78 

National Christian Association Annual 
Meeting : 

Secretary's Report 79 

Recommendations : What the Reform 

Needs • 82 

Business Meeting Report, by Mrs. N. E. 
Kellogg, Recording Secretary 83 



Annual Report of Secretary Stoddard... 85 
Annual Report of Mrs. Lizzie W. Rober- 

son 87 

Annual Report of Rev. F. J. Davidson.. 87 

In Memoriam 87 

Greetings to Annual Meeting 88 

The Lodge a Counterfeit, by H. C. Cassel. .92 



In the Papacy they make pilgrimages 
to the shrines of the saints — to Rome, 
Jerusalem, St. Jago — to atone for sins. 
But now we in faith can make true pil- 
grimages which really please God. When 
we diligently read the Prophets, Psalms 
and Evangelists, we journey towards God, 
not through cities of the saints, but in our 
thoughts and hearts, and visit the true 
Promised Land and Paradise of everlast- 
ing life. — Luther. 



NATIONAL CHRISTIAN ASSOCIA- 
TION. 



President, Rev. John F. Heemstra; 
Vice-President, Rev. Wm. B. Rose, 
Recording Secretary, Mrs. N. E. Kel- 
logg; Secretary-Treasurer, Wm. I. 
Phillips. 



BOARD OF DIRECTORS. 

Walter Wietzke, A. W. Safford, G. W. 
Hylkema, Wm. P. Ferries, J. R. Shaf- 
fer, G. W. Bond, M. P. F. Doermann, 
A. H. Leaman, C. A. Blanchard, George 
Slager and Thos. C. McKnight. 

LECTURERS. 

Those desiring lectures or addresses 
may write to any of the speakers named 
below : 

Rev. W. B. Stoddard, Box 94, East 
Falls Church, Virginia 

Rev. Adam Murrman, Arena, Wis. 

Rev. F. J. Davidson, 927 St. Maurice 
Ave., New Orleans, La. 

Mrs. Lizzie W. Roberson, 2864 Corby 
St., Omaha, Neb. 

Pres. C. A. Blanchard, Wheaton, 111 



There is none 
other Name 
under heaven, 
given among 
men, whereby 
we must be 
saved. 

— Acts 4:12 



CHRISTIAN 

CYNOSURE 



Jesus answered 
him: I spake 
openly to the 
world, and in 
secret have 1 
said nothing. 
— John 18:20 



LODGES AND THE PUBLIC 
SCHOOLS 

PRESIDENT BLANCHARD, WHEATON COL- 
LEGE, WHEATON, ILLINOIS 

It would be very pleasant to those who 
struggle after righteousness within and 
without if Satan would take a vacation. 
Unfortunately he never wearies and so 
far as the records go, he has never been 
off duty from his beginning until now. 

Not long since, I called attention to the 
effort now making to identify Washing- 
ton with Masonic lodges. As has been 
said so frequently, it would make no dif- 
ference if everything they say were true. 
We are not to be followers of men, but 
followers of God. Even good men make 
mistakes and commit sins. Washington 
was no exception to this rule. He was a 
real patriot, a great soldier and a great 
statesman, but he was not infallible and 
if he had been foolish enough to have 
admired and promoted free masonry and 
other secret orders, we should still have 
to go to the history of the order, its ritual, 
its religion, its philosophy, to find out 
what sort of a thing it was. Though this 
is true, the articles about Washington 
and the continuous publication of Ma- 
sonic literature are significant in our time. 
The lodges are striving for a rehabilita- 
tion in the public mind. Christian people 
have suspected and condemned them be- 
cause of their appeal to human vanity in 
titles, regalia, etc., because of the bloody 
oaths which have been confirmed by 
bloody actions. All these things have 
discredited the organization with thought- 
ful men and women. 



There is no attempt to answer the 
arguments against the orders No one 
declares that when Jesus said, "In secret 
I have said nothing," He did not mean 
what He said. No one attempts to say 
that when the Holy Spirit said that we 
were not to be unequally yoked together 
with unbelievers, He meant that we were 
to be tied up with them in every sort of 
a way. No one attempts to say that 
stripping men to their underwear to make 
them an object of mirth before a crowd 
of men is tending to make men more 
humble, honorable, and Christlike. There 
is, however, a continuous attempt being 
made to secure credit for Masonry on 
the ground that George Washington was 
a Freemason. 

Another Charge 
Another fact which needs to be con- 
sidered at this time is the attempt to se- 
cure public approval by holding public 
meetings of one kind or another which 
are real advertisements for the society. 
I have noticed several occasions of this 
kind recently. The Lodge holds a public 
meeting and introduces a speaker who is 
to give an address on some popular sub- 
ject which has nothing whatever to do 
with Freemasonry, but which seems to 
have since it is given under their direc- 
tion. This of course is bait to catch good 
men. In these meetings there arc no 
references to or representations o\ the 
initiations, no repetitions of the oath- or 
real information respecting tin- religion 
of the order. Such gatherings are an 
advertisement, hut not a justification o\ 
what the order really is. Thev can not 



- 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



Tulv, 1921. 



of course influence thoughtful people 
who know the facts in the case. 

Another effort which is now taking 
place is a peculiar one. Certain Masonic 
senators have introduced a bill in the 
Senate providing for an appropriation of 
one hundred million dollars to be appor- 
tioned among the states to aid in the 
payment of teachers' salaries, the equal- 
izing of education, the Americanizing of 
immigrants, etc. It is not strange that 
a number of senators should be Masons. 
The lodge has always in one way or an- 
other endeavored to get possession of 
public positions. That is not strange, but 
it is a little peculiar to see Freemasonry, 
which has no connection with educational 
matters, except the pretense of scientific 
instruction in their initiation, should be 
pushing this bill and we rind that not only 
was it drawn up. but it is being adver- 
tised by the lodges, and that Masonic 
bodies throughout the country are urging 
its adoption. For example, the Grand 
Master of the Grand Lodge in Nevada 
says that "the public school is the child 
of Freemasonry."' This of course, is not 
true and no attempt so far as I can learn 
has been made on his part to make it 
seem true. He simply says it and lets it 
go hoping that some people will believe 
it. 

The past Senior Grand Warden of 
Iowa spoke of "the stand the Grand Mas- 
ter of that state has taken for the edu- 
cation of the young people." Mr. Petti- 
grew. Grand Master of South Dakota, 
says the masons of the country have al- 
ways stood behind the public schools. It 
is not perfectly clear what this means. 
but the object is. no doubt, to give the 
impression that in some special way they 
have helped the schools. If this is their 
intention, of course it is not true to fact. 
Freemasonry has no science, it has no 
libraries for general knowledge, does 
nothing to promote general intelligence. 



in fact seems to prevent this by their 
bloody oaths, foolish ceremonies., and the 
like. ' 

Twenty-three thousand Masons in the 
State of Louisiana are said to have re- 
quested their senators and representatives 
to vote for this bill to give one hundred 
million dollars to public education. "The 
Masonic Service Association of the 
L'nited States" was organized in 1919 
by some eighty Grand Representatives 
from thirty-four Grand Lodges. Its pur- 
pose as declared is "To give to Ameri- 
can Freemasonry a national voice." 

This is undoubtedly an effort on the 
part of this association to push the Ma- 
sonic lodge into public notice and to 
secure through it an appropriation for 
the public schools. If this Bill should 
become a law. under present conditions, 
it is obvious that two or three things 
would follow. 

In the first place, the men who were 
appointed to office under the act would 
be probably, largely Masons, and would 
draw large salaries for the service which 
they were supposed to render. In the 
s rcond rhiee. it is likely to stimulate the 
appointment of Freemasons and other 
lodge men to positions in the school sys- 
tem throughout the country. T have been 
connected with public schools and edu- 
cation for many years and have often no- 
ticed that the men who get the leading 
positions are Freemasons. Along with 
the appointment of Masonic officers tc 
administer the laws and Masonic teach- 
ers to manage the schools which are sup- 
posed to be benefited by the law will be 
the general movement to recommend the 
lodge movement to the people of the 
country. Of course all these things put 
together will tend to break the force of 
the argument against these organizations. 
and the appeal to personal vanity and 
greed will be continually made. 

What Can Be Done? 
Of course it is the right of any citizen 



Filly, 1921 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



69 



to protest against any public action which 
seems to him to be evil. It is perfectly 
clear that the secret lodge system is hos- 
tile to the home, to the church, and to 
the state. This being the case, it can not 
be anything but hostile to the public 
school. The forging of letters in the 
Washington case, the falsehoods continu- 
ally uttered regarding the relations of 
military and civilian officials in our coun- 
try to the Masonic lodge attempting tc 
show that ever great man is a lodge man 
will soon make it absolutely impossible 
to have any historic truth on the subject 
available. If men in Boston will print 
the statement that Chief Justice John 
Marshall is a Freemason, while he is yet 
alive and able and willing to contradict 
the statement, what will they do for him 
and for others when thet are dead? 
The Bible in the Public Schools 

Our readers know that for years there 
has been an agitation respecting the use 
of the Bible in the public schools. It is 
not true that the Masonic lodge has been 
in any sense of the word the founder of 
our public schools. Lodges do not nat- 
urally tend to intelligence. Some intel- 
ligent men become lodge men, but no in- 
telligent men are made by the lodges. 
They have nothing to make men intel- 
ligent. To go through the hum drum 
ritual of a secret society would naturally 
tend to softening of the brain. Many 
men have said to me that they do not go 
to their lodges for they rind it so ex- 
tremely tiring to hear the order of service 
gone through and the repetition of the 
lodge catechism. They like to be called 
"Grand" and "Great Grand." but they 
like to be called "Senator." "Governor," 
etc.. they like the regalia and the titles 
where they can secure profit by them. 
They use the ignorant absurdities of the 
lodges to secure praise where there is op- 
portunity for self glorification. 

Of course men of this type are not 
usually Christians. It is safe to say that 



they are never intelligent Christians. 
They have never known what Christian- 
ity is and can never know while they are 
moved by such earthly ambitions as have 
been referred to. Still further. lodges 
have never believed in the Bible. They 
use it. they call it a piece of furniture. 
but they do not believe it or obey it. They 
>trike the name of Jesus Christ out of 
the Scripture which is read and omit it 
from their prayers and yet they declare 
that their members when they die go to 
heaven no matter what their earthly lives 
have been. 

The fact that the lodges are striving to 
get control of the public schools suggest 
the possibility of the stimulation of the 
parochial school movement in our coun- 
try. The Catholics have had it for many 
years. Lutherans are extending their 
church schools. The tendency to-day of 
public education is towards evolution and 
its teachings which produced the world 
war and which are likely to produce an- 
other yet more terrible. Children in the 
grades are already learning what the 
teachers believe about the creation. If 
the present tendency continues until the 
whole public school has been lodgified, it 
may easily be supposed that all Chris- 
tians will be compelled to establish schools 
for their own children in order to pro- 
tect them from such teaching. 

All people who read and think know 
that the criminal population oi our coun- 
try consists of the younger people. I do 
not mean that there are no older per- 
sons who are criminals but I mean to say 
that the criminal population as a whole is 
young. If education is to be on an anti- 
christian or unchristian basis the ten- 
dency in this direction will continue. We 
fear that the Smith-Towner bill will be 
a factor to produce the evil result about 
which we have spoken. There is a con- 
tinual desire on the part of ambitious men 
of one sort and another to create new 
positions which they or their friends may 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



July, 1921. 



fill. If these brethren would use these 
positions for the good of the public and 
the glory of God. the building up of His 
church no one would object. There are 
plenty of things for us to do, and to have 
the taxes of Christian citizens used to 
promote unchristian or anti-christian 
schools is a serious evil and some method 
ought to be devised for preventing it. 

Of course the first thing which a Chris- 
tian thinks of in such a connection is 
prayer. Prayer moves the arm that moves 
the world. That is a tremendous state- 
ment, nevertheless it is true and will al- 
ways be true for God has said that He 
will answer the prayers of His children. 

There are millions of Christian people 
in this country who are paying double 
taxes, that is to say, they are supporting 
the public school system which is un- 
christian, and in many instances, anti- 
christian, and are at the same time levy- 
ing taxes upon themselves for the Chris- 
tian training of their children. It may 
be said that this is an argument for Cath- 
olic schools and we must admit that it is 
if their education was Christian as it 
ought to be. However, while it is true we 
cannot approve of Catholic education, it 
is true that we must approve of Christian 
education. We approve of the Catholic 
education so far as it is Christian. While 
the lodge is a political force, it does not 
make it the duty of a Christian nation to 
support a Godless education. We must be 
careful about extending the powers of 
men who have degraded our educational 
system and have departed from the faith 
once delivered to the Saints. We think 
the Smith-Towner Bill should be de- 
feated. 



SMITH-TOWNER BILL AND 
MASONRY. 

In 191 8, Senator Smith (Democrat) 
from Georgia introduced to .Senate a Bill 
(S. 1017) for the creation of a National 
Department of Education. The Bill pro- 
vides that American education shall be 



given recognition by the Federal Govern- 
ment ; the Bill provides for an appropria- 
tion of $100,000,000 to be apportioned 
among the States to aid in the payment of 
more adequate teachers' salaries, the 
equalization of educational opportunities, 
the removal of illiteracy, the American- 
ization of immigrants, physical educa- 
tion, etc., etc. 

Combined with this Bill is that (H. R. 
7) of Representative Towner (Repub- 
lican) from Iowa, the Bill now known as 
the "Smith-Towner Bill," pending action 
of Congress. 

Thousands of men the country over re- 
main good men in spite of their Masonic 
affiliations ; and the fact that both Smith 
and Towner and five other statesmen to 
whom I have been referred in matters 
pertaining to the Smith-Towner Bill are 
all Masons, would not seem strange at 
all were it not for the fact that Grand 
Lodges of Masonry have taken action in 
favor of the Bill and that Masonic maga- 
zines, the country over, are being used as 
mediums to push said Bill. — B. M. Holt. 



The Public School the Child of Masonry. 
"The public school is primarily the 
child of Masonry," says Grand Master 
B. S. Park, Proceedings, Nevada, 1920, 
page 34. 



"Your committee wishes particularly to 
commend the Grand Master, W. A. West- 
fall, on the stand he takes for the educa- 
tion of all the youth of our country in 
our free, unsectarian public schools." — 
J. A. West, Past Senior Grand Warden, 
Iowa, Proceedings, page 83. 



"By unanimous vote the Grand Lodge 
(California) adopted a resolution which 
dealt with the matter of the Smith- 
Towner Educational Bill now pending in 
Congress." — Proceedings, Iowa, 1920, 
page 37. 

"The Masons of the country have 
always stood behind the public school." 
— G. A. Pettigrew, Grand Master, South 
Dakota, 19 19, Proceedings, Iowa, 1920, 
page 202. 



"It is the wish of 23,008 Masons of 
this State (Louisiana) that the Senators- 
and Representatives from Louisiana to 



July, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



71 



our National Congress be requested to 
vote and work for the Smith-Towner 
Bill, H. R. 7 and S. 1017, Sixty-sixth 
Congress. — Proceedings, Alabama, 1920, 
page 73- 



"We recognize and proclaim our belief 
in the free and compulsory education of 
the children of our nation in public pri- 
mary schools." — Grand Lodge, Oregon, 
Proceedings, Alabama, 1920, page 40. 



It is not enough that Masonry is un- 
duly active in its support of the Smith- 
Towner Bill. The chief object of Ma- 
sonry in this is to destroy all private and 
parochial schools. — B. M. Holt. 

"We much prefer the elimination of the 
private and parochial elementary schools 
since the one makes for class distinction 
and the other for religious intolerance." — 
Grand Lodge, North Dakota, June 17, 
1920, The Builder, August, 1920. 



"Wherever a dollar is given to support 
a parochial school it is a distinct slap at 
the public school." — Grand Lodge, South 
Dakota, Proceedings, Iowa, 1920, page 
202. 



"The only influence fighting this meas- 
ure (the Smith-Towner Bill) is that of 
the un-American parochial school." — 
Grand Secretary, W. L. Stockwell, Ma- 
sonic Grand Lodge Library Bulletin, Jan- 
uary, 192 1. 



"I believe that the time is coming when 
we should take a stand against the nar- 
row bigotry of the parochial school." — 
G. A. Pettigrew, Grand Master, South 
Dakota, Proceedings, Iowa, 1920, page 
203. 



Masonic Attack Not Confined to Catholi- 
cism. 
"I do not believe that there can be any 
Roman Catholic United States history or 
any Norwegian or German Lutheran 
United States history, or any Presby- 
terian United States history." — G. W. 
Stockwell, Secretary Grand Lodge, North 
Dakota, Official Document, January 8, 
1921. 



be educated as Presbyterians, Catholics, 
Methodists, Lutherans or as Hebrews." — 
Masonic Grand Lodge, Library Bulletin, 
January, 192 1. 



Masons and Masonry throughout the 
country stand back of the Smith-Towner 
Bill, but this is not all, for said Bill has 
also been incorporated into the activities 
of the "Masonic Service Association of 
the United States," organized by some 
eighty Grand Representatives from 34 
Grand Lodges. Said Association came 
into existence in November, 19 19, in 
Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and has for its ob- 
ject "to give to American Freemasonry a 
national voice." It is claimed that "lack 
of co-operation among Masonic units" 
has been remedied by said Association; 
and that "it is only through united efforts 
that we can safely oppose our arch en- 
emies." 



"Resolved, That this [Masonic Serv- 
ice] Association heartily and unreservedly 
approves and indorses the principles of 
the Smith-Towner Bill now before Con- 
gress, which provides for a national de- 
partment of education and appropriates 
$100,000,000 to assist the several States 
in meeting the educational demands of 
the present day, and respectfully urges 
upon Congress the speedy passage of this 
measure." — Printed in the Proceedings, 
Grand Lodge, District of Columbia, 
1919, page 516. 



RITUAL BROTHERHOOD OF RAIL 
WAY CLERKS. 

In use of gavel and for other purposes, 
indicates one rap: ** two raps; *** three rap< 

and so on. indicates a pause. Thus 

* ** indicates a rap, a pause, then two 

raps; ** *' ;: two raps, a pause and two 

raps and so on. 

Sections or paragraphs marked " " may be 
omitted at the option of the lodge. 



We do not see why children need to 



Opening Ceremony. 

(During this ceremony no members 
will be admitted into the lodge ropm. 
They may. however, be admitted to the 
ante-room.) 

The hour for meeting having arrived, 
the President assumes his station, gives 
* and says : 

President : Members will be seated and 
officers repair to their respective stations. 

(If any station- are vacant the I 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



July, 1921. 



dent will fill them temporarily from the 
members present, after which he will con- 
tinue.) 

President: Brother (or Sister) Ser- 
geant-at-Arms. see that all lodge room 
doors are secured, all official stations filled 
and then ascertain if all present are en- 
titled to remain. 

Sergeant-at-Arms : Worthy President, 
your order has been obeyed. The doors 
are securely guarded, all stations filled, 
and all present are entitled to sit with us. 

! President : It is well. Brother (or 
Sister) Inner Guard, exchange place with 
the Outer Guard. 

(The outer Guard enters and stands 
inside the door.) 

! President: Brother (or Sister) 
Outer Guard, what are your duties ? 

! Outer Guard : It is my duty to safe- 
ly guard the outer door, and allow no one 
to enter except those who are in posses- 
sion of the term password, or by permis- 
sion of the President. 

! President : So let it be, you will 
resume your station and relieve the In- 
ner Guard. • . 

(Inner Guard resumes his place.) 

! President: Brother (or Sister) In- 
ner Guard, what are your duties? 

! Inner Guard : Worthy President, to 
faithfully guard the inner door, and 
suffer none to pass or repass except such 
as are duly qualified, or by permission of 
the President. 

! President: Brother (or Sister) Ser- 
geant-at-Arms, what are your duties? 

! Sergeant-at-Arms : Worthy Presi- 
dent, to see that all present at the open- 
ing of the lodge are in possession of the 
passwords, to receive and conduct all 
candidates for initiation, and perform 
such other duties as may be required by 
the President or by the lodge. 

! President: Brother (or Sister) 
Chaplain, what are your duties ? 

! Chaplain : To invoke the divine 
blessing upon all our undertakings, and 
perform such other duties as may be re- 
quired by the President or by the lodge. 

! President: Brother (or Sister) 
Treasurer, what are your duties? 

! Treasurer : Worthy President, to 
have charge of and safely keep all of the 
funds of this lodge, and pay out the same 
only by order of the lodge, when I shall 
have received a warrant signed by the 



President and Secretary and keep a true 
and correct account thereof. 

! President: Brother (or Sister) Fi- 
nancial Secretary, what are your duties? 

! Financial Secretary : Worthy Presi- 
dent, to collect and receive all moneys 
due the lodge, to keep a true and correct 
account between the lodge and its mem- 
bers, and to turn over to the Treasurer all 
money in my possession belonging to the 
lodge at the close of each meeting, taking 
a receipt therefor, and to perform such 
other duties as may pertain to my office. 

(Should the offices of Financial Secre- 
tary and Treasurer be combined the one 
holding that office will make reply for 
both.) 

! President : Brother (or Sister) Sec- 
retary, what are your duties ? 

! Secretary : Worthy President, it is 
my duty to keep true and correct minutes 
of all meetings, conduct the correspond- 
ence of the lodge, have charge of the seal, 
use it cautiously, placing it on only offi- 
cial correspondence and records, and to 
perform such other duties as are re- 
quired by the laws of the Brotherhood. 

! President: Brother (or Sister) 
Vice-President, what are your duties? 

! Vice-President : Worthy President, 
to assist the President in preserving or- 
der, and in the absence of the President 
to perform to the best of my ability the 
duties of presiding officer, and do all in 
my power to advance the welfare of the 
Brotherhood. 

President : My duties are to preside 
over this lodge, without fear or favor, 
ever having the welfare of this Brother- 
hood at heart, and with malice towards 
none, and equal rights for all. 

The Chaplain will now invoke the Di- 
vine Blessing. * * * 

Opening Prayer. 

Chaplain : Our Father, Who art in 
Heaven — as a body we congregate in this 
lodge room for the betterment of our fel- 
low-workers and the furtherance of our 
cause ; lead us that we may do all things 
well. Amen. 

All answer : So let it be. 

President : I now declare this lodge 
open for the transaction of such busi- 
ness as may legally come before it. 
Brother (or Sister) Inner Guard, you 
will now permit such as may be in wait- 
ing and qualified, to enter. 

(To be continued.) 



Tuly. 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



'iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiijiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiifiiiii: 



The Question of the Hour 



By E. E. FLAGG 

AUTHOR OF 

"Holden With Cordj." 



"JlllllllllllllllillllMlllillllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllMIINIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIINIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIillil" 



CHAPTER XIII. 

IN WHICH CERTAIN CHARACTERS IN THE 
STORY GET '"MORE LIGHT." 

Nelson's arrest caused much excitement 
in Mrs. McGowan's quiet boarding house, 
and fell on Martha like a thunderbolt. But 
if she was not exactly a heroine, she had 
the stuff in her of which heroines are 
made, and she neither wept nor fainted 
when Martin Treworthy told her the 
news, but exclaimed indignantly : 

"It is all a wicked plot. His opposition 
to the strike has made him enemies among 
the workmen, and they have laid this 
scheme to revenge themselves on him. and 
turn off suspicion from the real criminal." 

"But, you see Nelson has been fool 
enough to join a secret clan, and from 
their point of view the wretches, who 
actually put the dynamite in the building 
and perilled scores of lives, were guilty 
of nothing worse than 'imprudence' and 
have got to be 'shielded from the conse- 
quences' some way or other. Xelson has 
incurred their hate by opposing the strike 
and opposing the leaders, and he can fill 
up the gap as well as any other innocent 
man ; under the circumstances maybe a 
little better." 

"Oh. can it be that God will let Xelson 
suffer under such a wicked accusation — 
so absurdly false on its very face!" burst 
out Martha. 'Whereat Martin Treworthy 
cut short his growling and essayed to 
comfort her with that kind of advice 
which, however trite and commonplace it 
may seem, has comforted people in 
trouble in all ages. 

"Keep fast hold on your trust in God. 
Don't let that slip. Anchor your heart 
right on to his promise. 'He shall bring 
forth thy righteousness like the light, and 
thy judgment like the noonday/ That is 
the best way to do now. It is all coming 
out right. 'Why, bless you, there ain't 
anybody believes him guilty. The only 
witness' against him whose testimony 
amounts to anything is a worthless fellow 
who would sell hfc soul for a drink of 



whisky. That young Howland says there 

ain't a jury in the land would indict him 
on such evidence. He'll come out all 
clear from this — but — " Martin Tre- 
worthy spoke the last words in the slow 
way in which he always uttered his 
strange half -prophecies that were the 
more impressive from the fact of their 
being so often couched in Scriptural 
language — "the end is not yet.'' 

To Martha they sounded like the echo 
of her own unvoiced forebodings, and 
-truck a chill to her very heart. But .-he 
asked no questions. 

Stephen Howland had felt more than a 
passing interest in the young workman 
who had been his first client in Jackson- 
ville, and undertook his defense with 
much ardor as a case even better suited 
to his chivalrous temper than prosecuting 
rum sellers. 

The torn fragment of paper found 
where the dynamite was deposited was a 
part of a letter with Nelson's name at- 
tached : but Stephen's quick, judicial 
sense saw at once that all this "circum- 
stantial evidence" if it proved anything 
proved too much, as the real criminal 
would in all probability have covered up 
his tracks better : while under his sharp 
cross examination the miserable fellow 
who had been hired to perjure himself be- 
came involved in hopeless contradictions, 
and finally broke down at a point where 
he testified to having recognized Xelson 
on a certain occasion, the hour being late 
in the evening, by the light of the moon : 
a statement which the almanac failed to 
verify, as Stephen, after due examination 
of that important authority, quietly in- 
formed the jury. 

Nothing now remained but to sum up 
in one brief and powerful argument all 
the facts in the case, which proved a con- 
spiracy to criminate his client on the part 
of some member- i^i the Union who were 
dissatisfied with his course in relation to 
the strike. The evidence was so over- 
whelming that Xelson was triumphantly 



74 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



July, 1921. 



cleared of the charge without the jury 
leaving their seats. 

In the course of his speech Stephen in- 
cidentally remarked, "I believe fully in 
the right of laboring men to organize for 
their own better protection, but when 
these secret organizations become engines 
of intimidation and terrorism, and fetter 
personal liberty, they are a nuisance to 
the world and the greatest possible curse 
to labor." and in doing so he merely ex- 
pressed an opinion which he supposed 
would be shared as a matter of course by 
every good, intelligent citizen. In his own 
mind it really seemed like a very innocent 
and well-turned sentence, and decidedly 
apropos to the defense, but Mr. Basset, 
who had dropped in to hear the proceed- 
ings of the court, as soon as it was over - 
made him aware of his mistake. 

"It won't do now to condemn the secret 
trades unions for the rash acts of a few. 
It will be likely to hurt your practice if 
you say such things. So many Masons 
and Odd-fellows belong to these societies 
that there's a. kind of connection, you see. 
And besides you are likely, unaware, to 
hurt the feelings of a brother, and so go 
contrary to that rule of charity which is 
such a fundamental principle with all true 
Odd- fellows." 

It did not occur to Stephen that if he 
fully carried out this rule and never said 
or did anything that could by any possi- 
bility hurt the feelings of Masons or Odd- 
fellows, it would effectually prevent him 
from making another speech against the 
saloon business as long as he lived. But 
Mr. Basset's glorification of his favorite 
order upon all possible occasions had be- 
gun to slightly pall upon his taste, and it 
did strike him as an unpleasant idea that 
there should be any link between him and 
dynamiters— which he was on the point 
of dryly observing when he saw Martin 
Treworthy a little distance off, his rugged 
features in a glow of delight, and turned 
away rather abruptly to shake hands with 
him. 

The old soldier with his odd mingling 
of various and seemingly opposite char- 
acters, who had fought and suffered for 
the cause of human liberty, in those days 
already as much a part of history to the 
generation to which Stephen belonged as 
Bunker Hill or Valley Forge, had made a 
strong impression upon his fancy on the 



occasion of the former trial, and he was 
glad of this opportunity to renew his 
acquaintance. But the greeting he re- 
ceived from the old border hero was de- 
cidedly more confusing than Mr. Basset's. 

"That was good — the way you come 
down on these unions. God bless you, 
and give you the chance to hit the whole 
brood of secret orders a good many such 
raps." 

Poor Stephen felt himself in an awk- 
ward dilemma, but the Howland honesty 
came to his rescue, and he said, while the 
blood rushed uncomfortably to his face, 
"I fear you misunderstood me, Mr. Tre- 
worthy. My remark was not intended to 
condemn all secret societies, or even the 
trades unions further than their tyran- 
nical abuse of power. I am an Odd- 
fellow," he added hesitatingly, "but I 
trust I am a good citizen for all that. I 
no more believe in any society which tries 
the dynamite argument, or restricts per- 
sonal liberty, than I do in rum-selling, 
and should feel that it was just as much 
my duty to fight it." 

This was decidedly an opening for 
Martin Treworthy, who had enough of 
the wisdom of the serpent not to speak his 
real chagrin at the unexpected revelation. 
He only muttered, "I might have known 
they would rope you in, my fine fellow," 
and then, taking advantage of the unsus- 
pecting Stephen, said : 

"Well, you have fought the saloons like 
a young Jephthah, as though you'd been 
regularly raised to the business, but some- 
how we hain't got rid of the Ammonites 
yet." 

"The fact is, Mr. Treworthy, saloon- 
keepers are the very hardest kind of fish 
to catch. In the first place all kinds of 
obstacles are thrown in the way of pro- 
curing evidence, and when evidence is 
obtained there is the difficulty of convict- 
ing. The jury fails to agree, or there is a 
loophole in the statute book. It is really 
discouraging." 

"Well, I remember going on a hunt 
once after mail robbers," said Martin, in 
the slow, ruminative fashion in which he 
used to begin his stories of border expe- 
rience. "They belonged to a gang that 
had kept the whole country in terror for 
years. They'd ride into a town with their 
revolvers cocked right in open day, and 
take whatever they wanted. Sometimes, 



July, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



out of sheer cussedness, they would 
amuse themselves by picking a quarrel 
with some poor fellow in one of the stores 
or restaurants, shoot him dead, and then 
ride off without anybody's daring to move 
a finger to stop 'em no more'n as if they 
had the numb palsy." 

"That was a pretty state of affairs," 
commented Stephen, whose Eastern ideas 
were much shocked. "I hope you caught 
the villains and hung them to the nearest 
tree." 

"We rode miles and miles through the 
brushwood," continued Martin, "and at 
last we sighted the rascals — were, in fact, 
nearly within pistol range, when I seen 
one of the fellows raise himself in his 
saddle, fling up his arm and then let them 
drop down to his side. And after that 
'there was no more luck about the house' 
as the old song says. It was really queer 
what accidents happened to put us back, 
till finally we lost the trail altogether. I 
didn't understand the matter as I did 
afterwards. The fellow gave the Ma- 
sonic sign of distress ; the leader of our 
party was a Mason himself, and worked 
it so as not to have them captured." 

Stephen felt as if a calcium light had 
been flashed on sundry puzzling points en- 
countered in his legal practice, but its 
chief effect just then was to give him a 
sense of discomfort like the light let too 
suddenly in on eyes that have been long 
bandaged. So he only said, "Aha," while 
Martin wound up with a moral to his tale 
as follows : 

"They say sauce that is good for the 
goose is good for the gander, and if secret 
signs and grips are good for thieves and 
murderers, they are good for rum-sellers ; 
and if they are good for that kind of 
gentry they are good for dynamiters. 
Better stick a pin in there. It may come 
handy to refer to next time you have a 
liquor case to try." 

And Martin Treworthy, with a curious 
smile on his face, strode away and left 
the young attorney to recover as well as 
he could from the effects of "more light" 
than had been flashed upon his under- 
standing by any degree of Odd- fellow- 
ship which he had yet taken. 
(To be continued.) 



A sentinel must not leave his post even 
to gather pearls or diamonds. — Spurge on. 



HOW THE SHRINERS ACT. 
BY DR. G. A. PEGRAM. 

I had often heard how the Shriners 
acted at their gatherings but I had never 
seen it. I have read also in a recent i>Mi<- 
of the Christian Cynosure about the 
heathenish way they acted in Tallahassee, 
Florida. Now the question is, is it an 
occasional perversion in which they in- 
dulge or is it their usual, or even more is 
it their uniform manner of conducting 
themselves at their general gatheni 
Reports from various places and observa- 
tions seem to indicate that it is their uni- 
form manner of conducting themselves 
on such occasions. If so, can they object 
if in addition to some of their own mem- 
bers, others are disgusted at their con- 
duct ? 

The Shriners in Mason City, Iowa. 

They were advertised, of course. Thev 
always are. In the early morning of May 
27, 1 92 1, the Shriners were to be seen 
here and there standing in groups talking. 
some going hither and yon apparently 
about their business and others just loaf- 
ing around to see and to be seen. Some 
were, dignified and gentlemanly; some 
were apparently sociable, courteous and 
kind ; but most of them were boorish and 
coarse looking. Many of them had dashes 
of red paint on their cheeks or chin, or 
both. Here and there one had a black 
splotch. Not a few walked with a swag- 
ger and a slouch. A few evidently want- 
ed to uphold the dignity and importance 
of the Order; others just as evidently did 
not care anything "for nothing or no- 
body" or for themselves. They were 
hollering and yelling at one another, 
across the street and up and down the 
street. In fact this part of the program 
began the night before. In fact they 
seemed to have full possession of the 
town and acted accordingly. Thev evi- 
dently thought they did not belong to thai 
class which parents sometime> admonish 
that they are to be seen and not heard. 
They insisted on both being seen and 
heard. 

Both old and young men would wave 
their hands at the girls looking out of tin 
windows of the office buildings and would 
holler at them in a familiar -on of a 
way. Some of the girls acted as if flat- 
tered by such attentions, hut others 
seemed to resenl such familiarity. On 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



July, 1921. 



different occasions I saw a group of men 
surround two or three girls on the street 
corners join hands with one another and 
then go around and sing, "Ring Around 
Rosy," etc., and then would squat or 
kneel, and would want the girls to step 
over their hands and out of the ring. I 
saw none do so. Some of the girls' faces 
became very red and they looked 
ashamed. Others seemed to be flattered 
by such familiarity. Most of these men 
seemed sociable, but it was a very coarse 
sort of sociability. 

Some of their own order tried to ex- 
cuse them on the ground that they were 
drunk. If drunkenness excuses disorder- 
liness, what will excuse the drunkenness ? 
More than one of my friends — some of 
whose family were Masons — said that 
half of the Shriners were drunk. One 
lady said she did not want her husband 
to go any further up in Masonry. Another 
lady from out of town told me a Shriner 
stopped her on the street and asked her 
where he could get some "Home Brew." 
He did not need any more just then. No- 
body denies their disorderliness ; they 
simply try to excuse it in some way. 

Some of the Shriners assumed to act as 
traffic police and would stop automobiles 
and try to direct the street cars. The 
police and others too gave them large lib- 
erty and let them do as they pleased. 
Nearly every one of them smoked cigars 
or cigarettes, even many who did not 
seem to be drunk. 

The extras of initiation began early in 
the afternoon. The biggest crowd of can- 
didates for these honors were holding a 
rope about one hundred feet long. There 
must have been about one hundred of 
them. They had their coats turned wrong 
side out, their faces were dashed with 
red paint, some looked black. Some were 
pulling forward and others were pulling 
backward. About ten or twelve dressed 
in the same way were riding crowded to- 
gether in an old dump cart pulled by an 
old horse. It was an effort for them to 
stay in. About a dozen more acted as a 
street cleaning squad. Some of them had 
street brushes and others shovels and a 
scraper. Occasionally they would stop 
and go through the motion of cleaning up 
a spot. This was usually when the whole 
procession would stop a moment. Two 
were driving dilapidated old gigs with one 



thill longer than the other through the 
streets, pretending to run a race with 
each other, and thrashing their old horses 
as if to make them run faster. Another 
was dressed up like an old clown in a 
loose garment with big red spots in it. 
Still another had a spanker and the 
cartridges too, and did not fail to use it 
occasionally. The most unique man was 
one who was dressed only in his B. V. 
D.'s and slippers on his feet, and a big 
barrel around him under his arms nearly 
to his knees. He wore no hat. He had 
streaks of red paint on his cheeks all the 
time and wore a smile part of the time. 
Strange to say, he did not look like a 
tough either. Some looked as if they 
were disfigured so as not to be recognized. 

Well, they had one nice thing on the 
program. I must surely tell it or they 
will think I am prejudiced. They had 
twenty-four men dressed in light blue 
clothes trimmed in gold braid who gave a 
beautiful exhibition in march drill. It 
was as nice as anything of the kind I 
ever saw. 

One Mason tried to excuse the conduct 
of the Shriners to me by saying, "Every- 
body likes to be a boy sometimes." Not 
many object to fun and humor. But if 
this order is as sacred as they profess, 
and if their initiation is so solemn, why 
was all of it buffoonery and horseplay and 
especially that part which they let the 
public see? If what the public did not 
see was better, why did they not put it 
to the front? If it was worse, how rank 
it must have been. It reminds me of 
what a preacher once said about lodges. 
When people asked him why he opposed 
lodges he told them that if they looked 
the same on the inside as they did on the 
outside, that was enough for him. 

I heard that there was one preacher 
among the candidates. I did not rec- 
ognize him in the crowd. But I know 
that some time before this he was boost- 
ing the Knight Templars to me. How 
professedly Christian men can fraternal- 
ize with such men and take part in such 
doings is a mystery to me. 

Do all approve of such conduct? No, 
some deplore it, and frankly say so. Why 
do they stay in such an institution ? That 
is the mystery. We might suggest fear, 
the loss of favor, long associations with 
some and probably all reasons are in- 



July, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



eluded. But if the thing is wrong, may 
God give them the grace to act accord- 
ingly. 

In Revelations 21 :8, "the fearful" are 
classed with the "unbelieving, abomin- 
able, whoremongers, sorcerers, idolaters 
and liars" — the worst sinners and de- 
generates on earth. I used to wonder 
why God so classed them. But when I 
considered that God could not depend 
upon a moral coward for anything, and 
that moral cowards finally sided with de- 
generates in the end, then I understood. 
Then I prayed God to give me courage 
to stand true to my convictions. 



CEREMONY OF BAPTISM 
in the 
ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED SCOT- 
TISH RITE. 

The following ceremony, called Masonic 
Baptism, is frequently performed in Europe 
and has recently been generally adopted in 
the United States. Palm Sunday has been 
designated as the day to be observed here- 
after for this service in San Jose, Cal. 

(Continued from page 44.) 

Worshipful Master : We therefore 
venture to hope that, in the simple cere- 
monial about to be performed, you may 
be interested, and perhaps may even hear 
somewhat that may lead to profitable re- 
flection, that fruitful mother of wise and 
upright action. 

Junior Deacon : Brother Senior 
Warden, there is an alarm at the door of 
our Temple. 

Senior Warden : Worshipful Master, 
there is an alarm at the door of our 
Temple. 

Worshipful Master : Cause inquiry to 
be made, Brother Senior Warden, by 
whom the alarm is given, and what it is 
that he desires. 

S. W T . : Inquire, Brother Junior Dea- 
con, by whom, etc. 

The Junior Deacon goes to the door, opens 
it and inquires. 

J. D. : Who is it gives the alarm here, 
and what does he desire ? 

Tyler: I give the alarm. There are 
here, in waiting, the child of a Mason (or 

children of Masons), and its (or 

their) parents, the parents desiring that 
their children should be baptized. 

The Junior Deacon closes the door, returns 
to his seat, faces the Senior Warden, salutes 
with his hand, and says : 

J. D. : Brother Senior Warden, the 



alarm is given by the Tyler, who reports 
that there are in waiting, etc. 

S. \\\: Worshipful Master, the alarm 
is given by the Tyler, who report-, etc. 

W. M.: Brother Master of Cere- 
monies, give this child ( or these children) 
and its (or their) parents admission, tak- 
ing with you the necessary assistance. 

The residue of this ceremony is given a> 
for more than one child. The Master and 
officers can readily make the necessary changes, 
if there be but one. 

The Master of Ceremonies, knowing how 
many of the children are too young to walk, 
takes with him the same number of brethren, 
and one more, and repairs to the ante-room. 
When he is ready to enter, he gives an ordinary 
alarm. 

J. D. : Brother Senior Warden, there 
an alarm at the door of the Temple. 

S. W. : Worshipful Master, there is 
an alarm at the dor of the Temple. 

W. M. : Cause inquiry to be made, 
Brother Senior Warden, who it is that' 
gives the alarm, and what is his desire. 

The Junior Deacon goes to the door, opens 
it, and asks : 

J. D.: Who is it, etc.? 

Master of Ceremonies : It is the Mas- 
ter of Ceremonies, accompanying the chil- 
dren for whom baptism is desired, and 
their parents. 

The Junior Deacon returns to his place, 
faces the Senior Warden, salutes, and reports : 

J. D. : Brother Senior Warden, the 
Master of Ceremonies desires. to enter, 
accompanied by the children for whom 
baptism is desired, and their parents. 

S. W. : Worshipful Master, the Mas- 
ter of Ceremonies, etc. 

W. M. : Thow open the doors, and let 
them enter. 

S. W. : Throw open the doors, and let 
them enter. 

The Master gives three raps and all the 
brethren rise. The Junior Deacon goes to the 
door and opens it. The Master of Ceremonies 
enters first, with drawn sword, followed closely 
by a brother bearing a candlestick with three 
branches, in which are three lighted candles of 
equal sizes, and different colors, white, black 
and rose-colored, forming a triangle. After 
him come, two by two. as many brethren as 
there are children too young t<> walk, each 
carrying a child upon a cushion covered with 
light-blue silk ; and behind these come in pro- 
cession, two by two, the other children, and 
then the fathers and mothers oi all. 

As the head of the procession enters, the 
trumpets will sound a flourish of eight bars. 
The Master of Ceremonies will halt in the 
West until the music ceases; then conduct the 
procession up the middle aisle to the East, 
turn to the right and make the three circuits, 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



July, 1921. 



graduating the time to the lesson and music. 

As soon as the Master of Ceremonies com- 
mences the movement up the middle aisle, the 
Junior Warden will commence the lesson. 

Between the lesson said by J. W., S. W., and 
Master, there will be a chant. 

The procession is conducted by the Master 
of Ceremonies three times slowly around the 
Lodge-room, with the sun, while the officers 
repeat as follows : 

J. W. : Young children are an heritage 
of the Lord. As arrows are in the hand 
of a mighty man, so are young children. 
Happy is the man that hath his quiver 
full of them ; he shall not be ashamed, 
but will speak with the enemies in the 



S. W. : If his children forsake my 
law and walk not in my judgments, if 
they break my statutes and keep not my 
commandments, then will I visit their 
transgressions with the rod, and their 
"wrong-doing with stripes. Nevertheless, 
my loving-kindness will I not utterly take 

from them, nor permit my pledge to fail. 

* --',- * 

AY. M.: Suffer little children to come 
unto me, and forbid them not : for of such 
is the kingdom of God. Whosoever shall 
not receive the kingdom of God as a little 
child, he shall not enter therein. Whoso- 
ever shall receive one such child in my 
name, receiveth me : and whosoever shall 
receive me, receiveth not me, but him that 

sent me. 

* * * 

At the end of the three circuits, the proces- 
sion halts in front of the Senior Warden in 
the West, the Master of Ceremonies placing 
the brethren who bear the infants in front, the 
other children on each side of them, and the 
fathers and mothers in the rear, in a' line. On 
the right hand stands the brother bearing the 
candlestick. 

(To be continued.) 



SNAPSHOTS. 
Popularizing Secret Societies. 
Sometime in last April I attended the 
Spring Meeting of the Presbytery in this 
state — California. At the close of the 
first evening session, the pastor of the 
entertaining church announced that the 
Presbyters were invited to attend a meet- 
ing of the Junior Lodge that was going 
to be in session that evening in the same 
church. He remarked that "this was the 
only lodge he knew of (and I presume 
he knew of several quite intimately) that 
you didn't need a password to get in." 



So Presbytery adjourned to the lodge. 
Its name is "Lodge of Junior Conquer- 
ors." It is really a lodgified society of 
Christian Endeavor. They have a regu- 
lar ritual. All the various officers. These 
have their places "in the west," east, 
north, and south as well as several con- 
ductors, doorkeepers, Chaplain, etc. In 
the center of the lodgeroom stands an 
altar with the Bible and the American 
flag on it. There are nine degrees, and 
in them they are supposed to learn "a 
heap" of Scripture. There is a lot of 
"red tape" in the affair. It is formalism 
gone to seed. The leader will ask a 
question and it goes to the ears and 
mouths of several officers, before it 
reaches the final one who answers back 
to the first one in the same way. 

While some of the Presbyters ex- 
pressed their approval, it struck your 
correspondent as being an outrage on 
Christianity, and a dangerous road for 
the boys and girls to travel. 

It is right in line of course with the 
way in which things are going in these 
days. It makes one who loves the simple 
religion of the loving Redeemer mani- 
fested in the hearts of humanity, home- 
sick. It was not the fault of those bright 
Junior boys and girls. It was the fault 
of their parents and teachers and pastor. 
The latter made some remarks at the 
lodge. Lfe is evidently the originator of 
this lodge, as he said it was the first one. 
But he has already had letters from sev- 
eral states and from Canada asking for 
rituals. So we may look for them to 
spring up like Jonah's gourd. We hope 
they may wither as soon. So Satan 
finds various ways of sneaking into the 
temple of God, to undermine the truth, 
and lead precious souls astray. 

Truthful Thomas. 



Prayer is not overcoming God's reluc- 
tance but laying hold of His willingness. 
— Selected. 



A careless reader of the Scriptures 
never made a close walker with God. — 
Robert Chapman. 



The church that ceases to be evangelis- 
tic will soon cease to be evangelical — 
Dr. Alex. Duff. 



July, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



79 



NATIONAL CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION 
ANNUAL MEETING 



The enrollment taken at the annual 
meeting did not include many who were 
present for the first time in the evening, 
but the enrollment showed five states rep- 
resented, namely, Illinois, Michigan, 
Nebraska, Pennsylvania and Virginia, 
and ten denominations, namely, Free 
Methodist, Swedish Baptist, Church of 
God in Christ, Reformed, Lutheran, Con- 
gregationalism United Brethren (Radi- 
cal), Presbyterian, Independent and 
Christian Reformed. 



After the annual meeting our head- 
quarters at 850 West Madison Street 
was favored with a visit from Mrs. 
Lizzie Woods Roberson and her daughter, 
Mrs. Ida Baker, and by Mr. G. W. An- 
derson and Wm. K. Bareman. Such fel- 
lowship and prayer together did more 
than "Brighten the Corner" where w T e 
are. 



GENERAL SECRETARY'S REPORT. 

The work of the National Christian 
Association has gone on steadily and suc- 
cessfully throughout another year. In 
the midst of the prevailing forces of un- 
godliness the Association has been a force 
for the kingdom of God and its righteous- 
ness. It sends forth the clear bugle call 
of loyalty to Jesus Christ as the only 
Saviour of men, as well as Lord of all. 
Instead of the lodge altar of works, the 
National Christian Association lifts up 
the banner of the atonement of the Lord 
Jesus Christ. 

The weapons of our warfare are not 
carnal but spiritual and so we combat the 
false teachings of the champions and pro- 
moters of the Secret Empire by dissem- 
inating the truths of the Gospel, by the 
living voice of those co-operating with 
us, and in the publication and circulation 
of literature. The power of the printed 
page and the personal touch of the living 
voice, has been fully tested and has prov- 
en its value in the past fifty years of our 
history. 

A leader of one of the denominations 
expressed his appreciation of the self- 
sacrificing spirit of the members of your 
Board of Directors, when he said, "The 



National Christian Association is not de- 
nominational, and yet you have a better 

attendance at your X. ('. A. Board meet- 
ings than we do at our church board 
meetings." The devotion of the X. ( .'. A. 
Board to your interests is certainly a 
cause for gratitude and thanksgiving. 
The Board of Directors meet the first 
Monday in every other month only, un- 
less there is a call for a special meeting. 
Your Board appointed as Field Agents 
for the past year, Rev. W. B. Stoddard, 
Rev. F. J. Davidson, and Mrs. Lizzie 
Woods Roberson. Since September last 
it has sought a man for General Field 
Agent, a long felt need, but so far with- 
out success. The enlargement of the 
work, the increase of funds and the cry- 
ing demand from many places to "come 
over into Macedonia and help us" makes 
the cry for such a man one of chief con- 
cern on your part. 

The Board has done what it could for 
the various fields as will be more fully 
seen not only in this report, but in the 
reports of the Field Agents themselves. 
The Association placed ninety copies of 
"Modern Secret Societies" and President 
Finney's "Character and Claims of Free- 
masonry" in the hands of graduate- for 
the ministry. Two libraries of anti- 
secret books have been also furnished 
the libraries of two Young People'.- S< 
cieties. Your Board ordered published 
only one new tract during the year : Duty 
of Members of the Church Towards its 
Lodge Members, but there were numer- 
ous requests to publish as tract.-, various 
manuscripts which were ottered but fund- 
were insufficient. The reprint of tracts 
for which there was a demand amounted 
to a little over 2,000.000 pages. 

The Board lias rented the Carpenter 
Building, except the portion Awd^l for 
the V C. A. office and -tore room, for 
another year to the City Mission of the 
Christian Reformed Churches for $12 
The building itself is in good condition. 

The plan submitted to -end literature 
to every minister in the United States 
was approved by the Board oi Directors, 
and a "Ministerial Tract Fund" was 
opened. The plan met with some re- 



80 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



July, 1921. 



spouse from friends throughout the coun- 
try and a beginning has been made and 
something accomplished. The unusual 
number of orders for tracts the past year 
indicates that many individuals have been 
stirred by this tract movement to bear a 
faithful testimony to their own ministers 
and neighbors. Volunteer workers 
throughout the country have purchased 
about a million pages and in addition to 
all this the Association has sent out about 
half as much more through its free tract 
work. 

More has been accomplished along this 
line of testimony in New York, Iowa and 
Nebraska than in any of the other states. 
The work in Iowa is sponsored by the 
Iowa State Christian Association and its 
officers propose to push the work this 
coming year along this same line. 

The National Christian Association has 
sent out its literature to over '1, 600 min- 
isters and Christian workers in the state 
of Nebraska, these included members of 
the United Brethren, Lutheran, Free 
Methodist, Christian Advent, Brethren, 
Presbyterians, Reformed Church of 
America, United Presbyterians, Congre- 
gationalists, Swedish Baptists, Baptists, 
and Methodist Episcopal Churches. r We 
believe that our increased correspondence 
from the state of Nebraska with inquiries 
for information and help, is one of the 
results from sending out the literature. 
Special work has been done in Lincoln 
and Omaha as well as in other parts of 
Nebraska by Mrs. Lizzie W. Roberson 
and also by resident pastors. We have 
been glad to note that a number of min- 
isters in Nebraska have been wisely pre- 
paring themselves to give information 
and advice to their people in this time of 
added peril to the cause of Christ from 
the great increase of lodge propaganda 
and consequent success. 

We have had subscribers to the Chris- 
tian Cynosure during the past year in 
the following named countries : Aus- 
tralia, England, China, India, Brazil, 
Canada, Japan, Philippine Islands, South 
Africa, Cuba and Hawaii. Sample copies 
of our magazine have also gone to Swed- 
en and Holland. 

Tracts and books have been ordered 
from : Scotland, England. Ireland, 
Alaska. Canada, Mexico, and Australia. 
Some two thousand tracts have been sent 



during the'year to one Christian worker 
in England and Scotland. 

The work of the Association has been 
. greatly aided by those who have sent in- 
formation throughout the year concern- 
ing various lodge movements, for ex- 
ample such as that of the Order of Rail- 
way Clerks, Degree of Honor, etc., etc. 
This information we have passed on to 
others through the Cynosure. Others 
have used the Association's store of in- 
formation when preparing addresses or 
seeking information about some degree 
such as the "Amaranth" or the facts 
about the Masonic celebration of Holy 
Thursday and Easter and the Masonic 
baptism of infants, etc. We wish also to 
publicly thank those who have painstak- 
ingly sent to us important clippings from 
magazines and newspapers. The Cyno- 
sure has in this way been made a rich 
treasury to its readers, and also by the 
help given it by the writers who have 
sent in valuable contributed articles. 

There has been an unusual demand the 
past year for information concerning a 
great variety of minor orders. Many 
ministers have been helped by corre- 
spondence in some cases about the Elks 
or the Moose or the White Lilies or some 
other lodge. 

We take it for granted that you would 
like to hear as mere samples extracts 
from a few letters received showing the 
character of information asked from time 
to time of the Association and also a few 
words as to our experience with individu- 
als here in the office. 

"As I am having trouble in my congre- 
gation on account of the lodges I am com- 
ing to you for information." 

A pastor writes : "The men are all in 
the lodges, hardly any in the churches 
and yet if they want to be there and the 
church does not appeal to them what can 
we do?" 

"Believing as I do that you are a 
'clearing house' for information on all 
fraternal and secret societies, I come to 
you for some information. Several mem- 
bers of my congregation have recently 
joined the Fraternal Order of Eagles hav- 
ing been assured that this is nothing but 
a mutual benefit society. A brother min- 
ister here in the city requests me to ask 



July, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



81 



also for some information on the Degree 
of Honor lodge. Must we class them 
under those organizations which we con- 
demn and must condemn as being un- 
christian and anti-Christian?" 



"I desire some information and litera- 
ture on a fraternal order, new to me, 
called The Modern Brotherhood of 
America. I need this information in 
dealing with a party who belongs to the 
order and seeks admission to our church." 



• "Last night I gave an address on the 
Woodmen, Yeomen and other secret so- 
cieties. The majority of my hearers 
were convinced of the evil. Some came 
up to me and said they were ready to 
prove that what I said in regard to the 
way of initiation of new members, oaths, 
prayers, funerals, etc., were not true. 
Could you help me in this matter ?" 



"I would like to have the best you can 
furnish me on Masonry. They are for- 
ever thrusting it at me, that no one knows 
anything about Masonry unless he is a 
member. To know one must join. What 
I want is exposures by those who have 
been members and have come out and 
revealed their secrets. Don't consider 
the price ! Send me the best you possi- 
bly can and not one work but several." 



"Are the following societies oath- 
bound, namely the Loyal Legion, Grand 
Army, Sons of Veterans, Labor L T nions, 
Grangers, and Gleaners. I am anxious 
to be sure about these organizations as I 
expect to attend a meeting May ioth 
when these societies will be the topic of 
conversation." 



"The book, 'Modern Secret Societies' 
by President C. A. Blanchard does a lot 
of good in the world. I have recently 
helped one Mason to see the truth. I am 
hoping that he will speak out ; his daugh- 
ter wanted to become an Eastern Star but 
she read 'Modern Secret Societies' and 
has changed her mind." 



"Yours of the 5th inst. at hand. It 
indeed contained very valuable informa- 
tion regarding the Knights and Ladies 
of Security, which was of immense 
value to us. I wish to take this oppor- 



tunity in thanking you for the valuable 
services you rendered us. 



Mr. 



was a Mason for several 



years. He heard of our work and wrote 
us that he had become convinced that the 
lodge was no place for him. He wanted 
to know what he should do to leave the 
Order. 



Re^ 



heard of our work a 



couple of years ago and through the 
reading of our literature was convicted 
of the folly of a Christian holding mem- 
bership in the Masonic fraternity. He 
has finally left the Masons and is now 
working faithfully among the people of 
his town and has a standing account for 
literature with the N. C. A. and is scat- 
tering broadcast our tracts, pamphlets 
and books. 



Rev 



was requested by his 



young men's class, consisting of about 
twenty, to give them a talk on the lodge 
question. He came to our office seeking 
help and enlightenment and "pointers" 
for his talk. The day following his ad- 
dress he returned saying that seventeen 
of the young men were present and that 
all expressed their thanks to him for giv- 
ing them the light they so much needed. 
Seven of the young men present had al- 
ready taken the first steps towards be- 
coming Masons but after Rev. 

talk, decided to withdraw their applica- 
tion and go no further. 



Mr. — , a student of the Moody 

Bible Institute, was advised to go to S 
retary Phillips by one of the Professors 
at the Institute. This young man was a 
Mason and was anxious to leave the or- 
der, but did not know what he ought to 
do. He is now not only a seceder but a 
happier and more effective Christian 
worker. 



Mr. has seceded from the 

Masons, Odd-Fellows and Knights of 
Pythias. In a recent letter to the Ass 
ciation he said: "It was Ronayne who 
woke me up. Blanchard who made me 
see. and Finney who gave me light." The 
lesson 10 each o\ us in this case is, cir- 
culate these books among your friends 
and acquaintances. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



July, 1921. 



Recommendations. 

What This Reform Needs: 

i. A General Field Agent. 

Your present General Secretary was 
first engaged by the Association as col- 
porteur fifty years ago. His continuous 
service has been since 1881 — a generation 
in length of service. If he should live six 
years more until his eightieth year, he will 
be glad to be as helpful to the work as 
his strength will permit without official 
connection with the Association^ The 
friends absent as well as you who are 
present are asked to pray God to send 
us a General Secretary and Field Agent. 
The Cause demands and providence indi- 
cates the importance of immediate action. 



2. An Endowment of the Christian 
Cynosure. 

Funds are needed for research work 
and better editorial service, and to place 
the Cynosure in College Reading Rooms, 
and to send it to pastors of small salaries, 
who could not otherwise afford it, and 
also to meet possible annual deficits. 

The Board of Directors have advised 
us that an Endowment Fund of $50,- 
000.00 should be raised. We have made 
a beginning and one twenty-fifth of the 
total has been secured. What are your 
wishes? What action will you take to- 
day? What will you do towards secur- 
ing the total amount? 



3. Ministerial Tract Fund. 

This Reform needs .the support of anti- 
secretists in its effort to reach locally and 
generally every minister, church clerk, 
and Sunday school superintendent in the 
United States with testimonies and an ad- 
vertisement of our books and tracts. Do 
you approve, and what do you advise ? 



4. A More Consistent Church Mem- 
bership. 

We have in mind the testifying 
churches. We do not call in question the 
honesty and uprightness of the lives 
of the members, but they see the idol- 
atrous lodge altars increasing and multi- 
tudes being ensnared, seemingly without 
a care. Children and wives .and neigh- 
bors are unwarned and uninstructed. 
The members of the early Church "went 
everywhere preaching the Word/' We 
must wake up and take greater pains to 



extend antisecret truths, or our chil- 
dren's children will be of little use in the 
Church of Christ, or help in bringing in 
the coming Kingdom of our Lord. Your 
pastor needs your help in this matter, as 
does this reform. Shall we right about 
face and do our very best this coining 
year to let our light shine upon the mod- 
ern spiritual Moloch of our day — 
Masonry with its baptism of infants, and 
its orders for boys and girls? 



5. A More Consistent and Brave 
Ministry. 

This reform needs a ministry whose 
hearts are homed in Heaven instead of 
the world. God's Word is still "quick 
and powerful" but men are not much af- 
fected by worldly ministers who fear to 
be aggressive against lodge idolatry and 
thus men remain generally godless. The 
Nebraska State Journal, the leading secu- 
lar paper of the state capital, in its issue 
of February 2nd, 192 1, said editorially: 

"It is common to hear serious minded 
men declare that their religious wants are 
fully supplied in the lodge room and if it 
were not for their families they would 
not feel the need' of any formal church 
connection whatever. This is a situation" 
says this Editor, "the Protestant churches 
of the United States, especially, must 
face * * *. The great movement 
toward Masonry is revealed as a chal- 
lenge to sectarianism." 

Can the ministry be considered free 
from blame for this condition? Denun- 
ciations by them of the organized idola- 
try in their midst are never heard. Such 
is not the example set by apostles and 
prophets. A minister who wishes to be 
at ease will not oppose Masonry and will 
encourage by his silence the modern 
prophets of Baal who are busy in their 
drives for church members, that when 
secured will be like themselves. 

The antisecret testimony at one time 
prominent in one of the American 
churches has given away to lodge pressure 
until now it is not uncommon to> find 
Elders and Ministers who worship at 
the altar of modern Baal. The drift of 
such churches away from that separation 
required by the Word of God is illus- 
trated in the questionnaire which was 
sent out by a Committee of the Interna- 
tional Methodist Conference to be held in 



July, 1921 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



83 



London this fall in which the delegates 
from this country are asked to notify the 
Committee as to the Masonic lodge in 
which they are members and what their 
rank is in said lodge. These questions 
are sent to delegates who expect to at- 
tend a great international church meet- 
ing. Shall we quietly allow our testify- 
ing churches to become of the world, and 
an advertising agency for the lodge? 
Conclusion. 
If we draw near to God, he will draw 
near to us. Shall we not then re-dedicate 
ourselves to Him and seek by prayer 
and humility and faithfulness to help 
these ministers and neighbors of ours and 
our own families into a life of holy living 
that shall manifest itself in separated 
lives from the world in heart and out- 
ward action ? 



BUSINESS MEETING REPORT. 

BY AIRS. N, E. KELLOGG, RECORDING SEC- 
RETARY. 

The Annual Meeting of the National 
Christian Association met as per pub- 
lished notice in the Third Christian Re- 
formed Church of Roseland, Chicago, at 
ten o'clock, a. m., June 1st, 192 1. 

President John F. Heemstra presided, 
who remarked among other things that he 
hoped that the time was not far distant 
when every Christian Church shall take 
a strong stand with us on this most im- 
portant matter. The President's remarks 
were timely, forcible and helpful. 

After a season of prayer and praise the 
first business of the meeting was to elect 
a Secretary pro tern, and Mr. B. M. 
Brown was chosen. Not long afterward 
the Recording Secretary came in and per- 
formed the duties of the office. 

It was moved and supported that all 
the friends present who were not now 
members of the Association be granted 
the usual privileges of such a meeting. 
The vote was unanimous in favor of the 
motion. 

It was decided to have three sessions 
instead of two, and that Rev. G. W. 
Griffith, Editor of the Sabbath school 
literature of the Free Methodist Church, 
should address the meeting after the close 
of the regular business in the afternoon 
and that Mr. G. Anderson of Philadel- 
phia, Penn., and 1 'resident Charles A. 
Blanchard of Wheaton College should ad- 
dress the meeting in the evening. 



It was voted that the morning session 
should adjourn at 11:45 o'clock until 
1 130 in the afternoon and that the eve- 
ning session should begin at 7 -.45 o'clock. 
The minutes of the last Annual Meet- 
ing were read by the Secretary pro tern. 
and it was voted to approve them as read. 
The Annual Report of the Treasurer, 
Wm. I. Phillips, was then read and it 
was voted that a Committee be appointed 
to examine and report on the same. Rev. 
W. H. Davis and Mr. G. Anderson were 
appointed by the Chairman as such com- 
mittee. 

The report of the Auditors was read by 
the Recording Secretary pro tern, and is 
as follows : 

Report of Auditors. 
To the National Christian Associate in : 

The undersigned auditors of the Na- 
tional Christian Association have ex- 
amined the Annual Report of the 
Treasurer, William I. Phillips, and have 
found the same correct. We have also 
found that the Securities are on hand a- 
stated in the said Annual Report. We 
also believe that the report of the Special 
Auditors, Mr. J. P. Shaw and Mrs. T. C. 
McKnight, is correct. 

Respectfully submitted, 

W. P. Ferries, 
Geo. W. Bond, 
A. H. Leaman, 

Auditors. 
We have examined from time to time 
as per the request of the Board of Direc- 
tors, the vouchers for all disbursements 
for money from May [St, l - \pril 

30th, 192 1, and believe the same to have 
been justified. We have also proved all 
the footings for the same period both for 
disbursements and receipts, and have 
found the same correct. We have also 
checked over the Journal. Sales Register, 
and Ledger, as well as the Cash Book 
and have found them correct. 

We believe the Treasurer'- accounts 
and books are correct. 

Respectfullv submitted. 
T. P. Shaw. 
'Mrs. T. C. McKnight. 

Special Auditors. 
It was moved and supported that the 
following Committees be appointed by 
the Chairman — Nominations, Memorial. 
Resolutions. The motion was carried ami 
the Chairman appointed on the first com- 
mittee Rev. C. G. Sterling of Chicago 



84 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



July, 1921. 



and Mr. W. K. Bareman of Zeeland, 
Michigan; on the second committee, Rev. 
A. W. Safford of Wheaton, Illinois, and 
Rev. W. B. Stoddard of East Falls 
Church, Virginia ; on the third committee, 
Rev. G. W. Hylkema and Rev. T. C. Mc- 
Knight of Chicago and Mr. G. Anderson 
of Philadelphia. These committees were 
instructed to report at the afternoon ses- 
sion. 

The Annual Report of Rev. F. J. 
Davidson, Southern Agent, was read and 
by motion received and approved. 

The following were elected Corporate 
Members of the Association : Mr. W. K. 
Bareman, of Zeeland, Michigan; Mr. G. 
Anderson of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; 
Rev. B. M. Brown of Wheaton, Illinois, 
and Mrs. Jennie Kirk of Wheaton, Illi- 
nois. 

A recess was then taken to one-thirty 
o'clock p. m. 

President J. F. Heemstra called the 
meeting to order at 1 :30 p. m. After a 
season of prayer and praise, Secretary 
Phillips was called upon to read the re- 
port of the year's work. The report and 
the recommendations which it contained 
were adopted. (The report is published 
in the Cynosure herewith.) Recommen- 
dations contained in the said report as to 
what this reform needs especially at this 
time were as follows : 

A General Secretary and Field Agent. 
This matter was discussed at some length 
and the following motion was then 
adopted : "Moved that we strongly favor 
the efforts of the Board of Directors to 
rind a General Secretary and Field Agent 
for the National Christian Association. 
And we urge all to pray earnestly that 
God will enable us to find His man." 

2. An Endowment of the Christian 
Cynosure. After due consideration it 
was moved by Rev. T. C. McKnight and 
supported 'That a Committee be ap- 
pointed to work out a plan for securing 
an Endowment of $50,000.00 for the 
Cynosure to be paid in full within five 
years." The motion was carried. 

The following were appointed as "Com- 
mittee for Cynosure Endowment" : 
Messrs. G. W. Hylkema, M. P. F. Doer- 
mann and T. C. McKnight. 

3. A Ministerial Tract Fund. The 
Association after consideration voted, 

. "We approve of the efforts which are be- 



ing made by the Board of Directors to 
send tracts to ministers and others who 
may be helped by them and favor increas- 
ing activity in this direction. 

4. A more consistent church member- 
ship among our testifying churches. The 
following motion was made, supported 
and voted : "We heartily approve of the 
position as expressed in this fourth 
recommendation." 

5. A more consistent and braver min- 
istry. After remarks by several it 
was moved by Rev. G. W. Hylkema and 
supported that we heartily agree with the 
sentiments expressed in this fifth recom- 
mendation and believe that it needs a spe- 
cial emphasis. 

It was moved by Rev. T. C. McKnight 
and supported and carried that we adopt 
the report of the Board of Directors as 
a whole. 

The Committee on Nominations, 
Messrs. C. G. Sterling and W. K. Bare- 
man, recommended the re-election of the 
present general officers, except the Re- 
cording Secretary, Mrs. N. E. Kellogg, 
who expects to be absent from America. 
In her place they recommended the elec- 
tion of Mrs. T. C. McKnight of Chicago. 
The general officers nominated for the 
ensuing year then are, Rev. John F. 
Heemstra, President; Rev. Wm. B. Rose, 
Vice-President; Wm. I. Phillips, Secre- 
tary-Treasurer; Mrs. T. C. McKnight, 
Recording Secretary. 

They also recommended the re-election 
of the members of the outgoing Board 
of Directors, namely, Messrs. George W. 
Bond, C. A. Blanchard, A. H. Leaman, 
George Slager, T. C. McKnight, M. P. F. 
Doermann, Walter Wietzke, A. W. Saf- 
ford, G. W. Hylkema, Wm. P. Ferries, 
and J. R. Schaffer. 

It was moved by Williston B. Stod- 
dard that the report of the nominating 
committee be accepted and adopted, and 
that those names be declared elected. The 
motion was supported and carried. 

The Eastern Secretary, Rev. W. B. 
Stoddard, read his report for the year 
which was encouraging. It was voted 
to receive the report and that it be pub- 
lished in the Cynosure. 

The annual report of Mrs. Lizzie Rob- 
erson was read by her daughter, Mrs. Ida 
Baker of Omaha, Nebraska. It was 
voted that this report be received and 



July, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



85 



published, and that we heartily approve 
and thank Mrs. Roberson for her excel- 
lent work. 

It was moved and seconded that the 
Memorial Report be published in the 
Cynosure. It was so ordered. 

The address of Rev. W. G. Griffith, 
"The Christian Patriot," was most ex- 
cellent and thrilling. By unanimous vote 
the speaker was requested to furnish a 
copy for publication in the Christian 
Cynosure. 

Among the letters to the Annual Meet- 
ing none were of such intense interest 
as was the one from Mr. B. M. Holt of 
Fargo, North Dakota. This letter with 
most of the others sent to the Association 
are to be published in the Cynosure. 

Notice of the evening meeting which 
was to be addressed by Mr. George An- 
derson and Rev. Dr. Blanchard was giv- 
en by the Chairman, and after prayer by 
Rev. T. C. McKnight the meeting ad- 
journed. 



ANNUAL REPORT SECRETARY 
STODDARD. 

Co-workers in the Cause : 

In answering another roll call, quite 
naturally I think of the past, those who 
organized our Association. Those who 
through long lives contended for the faith 
as we understand it, and at the same time 
wondering w T hat God has in store for us. 
We surely may rejoice that our Associa- 
tion has been helpful to thousands who 
have come to the light in Christ. In no 
small degree it has been instrumental in 
holding back the tide which the prince 
of darkness has caused to sweep over our 
country, carrying with it many who 
would . not have yielded had the force 
been less exacting. 

The time predicted when the dove of 
many should wax cold because of abound- 
ing iniquity is surely here. Blind in- 
deed must be the eyes that do not see 
the iniquity everyhere declaiming itself. 
As there is a cause for every effect, there 
is a reason for conditions. Our doing is 
in line with our knowing. With our daily 
papers holding before us the worst they 
discover, with theaters and movies fill- 
ing our eyes with obscene pictures, with a 
spirit of avarice dominating the world, 
and with the Lodge's offer of special op- 
portunity and easy religion, is it any 
wonder that a people being thus taught 



lost their anchor of truth and drift far 
toward they know not what ? 

In this time is our Association still to 
give aid to the multitudes or is its voice 
to be hushed? This is a question which 
may well concern us. 

Truth must eventually triumph for the 
eternal years of God are hers. If we re- 
main loyal to God's truth is there any 
good reason why he should not continue 
to honor us? "The enemy has come in 
like a flood," but God's standard is rai sed. 
May it be more effective is our prayer. 

There are many encouragements. Does 
the glorious dawn follow the darkest 
hour? Do momentous events change 
situations quickly ? What may be the re- 
action from the onsweeping tide? Every- 
where I travel I find awakened Christians 
calling for help. In rushing across the 
country to aid some I must pass many 
who ask my help. Never from the human 
point of view has the situation appeared 
more threatening. Never have oppor- 
tunities to help been greater. During the 
year passed the question has not been 
so much where can I go, as where shall 
I go first for the need of everyhere. I 
naturally expected as I older grew I 
should spend more time with my family. 
This anticipation is not being realized. 
On the other hand I have received some 
of the joy of giving up for Him who 
gave His all to provide a ransom. My 
efforts have been put forth along lines 
proven effective. They have been re- 
ported from month to month in the Cyno- 
sure. I have sought as always to hold up 
Jesus Christ as the only Savior of men. 
especially pointing out the deceptive 
teaching of lodge religion. The number 
of "God's many and Lords many" have 
been multiplied. Revivals are not re- 
quired to get converts to those who would 
make their belly their God, for the heart 
is still deceitful above all things and des- 
perately wicked.'' 

For results in a good cause there must 
be good solid, well-directed effort. We 
are not carried to 1 leaven on flowery l^cds 
of ease. As I have gone to the work my 
daily prayer has been "Lord help" and 
I here hear testimony to prayer answered. 
In taking long trips I have often felt 
great need of special assi>tance and have 
found it. My record shows two hundred 
and seven as the number of sermons and 



$6 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



July, 1921, 



lectures delivered during . the twelve 
months ending May ist, 192 1. Cash col- 
lections on the field have amounted to 
eight hundred forty-five dollars and six- 
teen cents. One thousand seventy-nine 
subscriptions to the Christian Cyno- 
sure amounting to fifteen hundred 
eighty-five dollars and forty cents were 
secured. Approximately two thousand 
three hundred calls were made. My 
traveling expenses aggregated seven hun- 
dred eighty-one dollars and eighty-one 
cents. Comparing with other years it ap- 
pears that both receipts and expenses have 
increased. Shall we say this is in line 
with the promise that grace shall abound 
where there is special need? Surely 
God's people to whom I have been per- 
mitted to minister have been expressive 
in their appreciation of my humble 
efforts. 

The evidence increases that the best 
results are obtained from fields carefully 
cultivated. Little can be expected from 
the field left to the weeds no matter how 
good the seed sown may have been. As 
in other years I have been able to reach 
some new fields thus awakening new in- 
terests. As my ability has been limited 
this has of course meant loss in visits to 
some of the old fields. The task of the 
Bantam hen with the flock of turkeys 
would be an easy one compared to my 
task in meeting the crying needs. 

Why do not more enlist in this im- 
portant work? 

It means a cross of course, but no cross 
no crown. Multitudes are giving useful 
lives to heathen on distant fields, and do ' 
it gladly. Why are so few found willing 
to devote their energy against what can 
be easily shown to be the greatest organ- 
ized effort of false worship in the home- 
land? Is it because so few recognize 
in the lodge a gigantic system of false 
worship or is the preaching to those who 
worship the unknown in the dark con- 
tinents more desirable? 

Your Agent has been thankful that 
God has permitted him to remain in the 
homeland, rather than go to attack some 
lion in African jungle. 

The statement is sometimes made that 
those who labor in our cause do it for 
the money they thus obtain. Why don't 
some of those making such comment take 



hold of it, are they really afraid they will 
get too much money? 

W r e may well be encouraged in the 
thought that the more intelligent among 
our people (and we are not nationally 
classed among illiterates) are discover- 
ing that the great troubles in our country, 
and every other country for that matter, 
are inaugurated and fostered by secret 
plottings. The reasonable laborer is more 
content with a wage reduction when as- 
sured that the employer is not receiving 
more than his share of the profits. Secret 
diplomacy has never been popular with 
true democracy. Suspicion always at- 
tends an attempt to cover facts. When 
underhanded scheming is put away, and 
the truth comes to the open the trouble 
vanishes. 

Individually and nationally we need 
light, "That which doeth make manifest 
is light." Jesus Christ is God manifest. 
His illumination dispells Lodge darkness. 

Some Pastors tell me attendance in 
their churches is increasing. This cer- 
tainly is cheering; where people attend 
the right churches in large numbers, lodge 
attendance must diminish. In the middle 
of the week, in a very busy community in 
a country district I found more than one 
hundred people gathered in a prayer 
meeting. Colleges and schools teaching 
the anti-secrecy principles are in many 
places overcrowded. The usual oppor- 
tunities for addressing these students has 
been mine. 

We face the fact that the God of this 
world is doing his utmost to seduce and 
destroy mankind, his ability is great, his 
power is recognized. Our hope of suc- 
cess is in the ultimate triumph of the 
right, we have enlisted under the banner 
of the Lord of hosts whom the psalmist 
represents as laughing at the raging 
heathen, at those who sow iniquity. They 
shall reap as they sow. 

Children of the King shall have tribu- 
lation, but their glorious triumph is not 
far removed. "Lift up your heads, oh ye 
gates, and be ye lifted up ye everlasting 
doors, and the King of Glory shall come 
in." 

Who is this King of Glory ? The Lord, 
strong and mighty in battle, he is the 
King of Glory. He is our hope, our life, 
our joy and our expectation. 

W. B. Stoddard. 



Tuly, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN" CYN< >SURE 



" 



ANNUAL REPORT MRS. LIZZIE ROB- 
ERSON. 

I beg leave to make my report of the 
last year's work. I have traveled and 
labored publicly and from house to house 
in fourteen states, namely. California, 
Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, 
Arkansas. Tennessee, Virginia, Nebraska, 
New York. Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan 
and Illinois. 

I write to the Cynosure every month 
and by this you know of my labors and 
experiences. I find in my travels the peo- 
ple, white and colored, are all mixed up 
in the secret work of Satan, but the Lord 
has blessed me and has saved many 
through my work in His ministry. There 
have been many threats to kill me and I 
am called a fanatic, but none of these 
things worry me. The secrets and the 
idolatrous principles of the lodges must 
be exposed that the people may be de- 
livered from their awful bondage and sin. 
I beg your prayers that the Lord give me 
grace to stand. 

Lizzie Robersox. 



I pray God fur a great and glorious An- 
nual Meeting. I am now out on a lec- 
turing and evangelical tour and shall not 
fail to declare the whole counsel of ( 
when and wherever permitted. Your- 
for the coming of the Lord. 

Francis J. Davidson. 



ANNUAL REPORT. 

REV. E. J. DAVIDSON. 

Dear Co-workers : 

Through Divine guidance I am again 
permitted to submit to you this, my An- 
nual Report from June 1st. 1920. to May 
1st. 192 1. Our trials and tribulations 
have been many, but through the guid- 
ance of the Holy Spirit we have tri- 
umphed. My health has not been at all 
times favorable, but thank God I have not 
been confined more than three or four 
days at a time. I have stood firm upon 
the rock of God's Word and have much 
to rejoice and praise Him. 

The secret empire tried me the past 
year as never before but truth in each 
case was the victor. My church work is 
fairly successful, all things considered. 
I visited and have been priviliged to 
speak at four annual association-, two 
conferences, held nine monthly minis- 
ters' meetings, taught eight young 
preacher's classes, delivered 105 sermon- 
in different churches and places, deliv- 
ered 79 antisecret lectures, made 576 
house to house calls and read the Bible 
and prayed. I secured 101 new Chris- 
tian Cynosure subscribers and have 
traveled 2.500 miles. Distributed 2.000 
pages of antisecrecy and religious tracts. 



IN MEMORIAM. 

Each year adds to our number on the 
other side the veil that so thinly sepa- 
rates earth from the eternal world. 
Among those of our friends answering 
the call to their reward during the year 
passed we note the following : 

Rev. Mathew C. Ranseen. a former 
President of our Association, as also 
President of the Hospital conducted by 
the Augustana Lutheran Synod in this 
city, and pastor of a large Swedish 
Lutheran Church. He was a much 
honored, highly respected, faithful Chris- 
tian. 

Rev. Jesse W. Brooks, Ph. D.. was 
engaged in a large number of Christian 
activities. As a director of missionarv 
efforts among the foreigners in our coun- 
try, as Superintendent of the Chicago 
Tract Society, he was especially honored. 
He bore faithful testimony in opposition 
to the lodge. Some experiences early in 
life made his testimony especially helpful. 

Rev. E. Breen. for years an honored 
director in our Association, was a faithful 
pastor in the Christian Reformed Church. 
He held many important offices in the 
church but was ever ready to do as he 
could in aid of our work. 

Rev. S. A. S. Metheney. a large-souled 
man of unusual ability, died at his home 
in Philadelphia. Pennsylvania. He had 
at various times contributed in aid of our 
work. He was highly respected and 
much honored by the Covenanter Church, 
in the interests oi which he devoted much 
service. 

Rev. and Mr-. \V. G. Waddle were de- 
voted in life and not long divided in 
death. At their home in New Athens. 
Ohio, there was always a welcome for 
the \. C. A. worker. Their service was 
.largely given to the United Presbyterian 
Church. They made substantial contri- 
butions in aid ^\ our work. 

Mr. John M. Allen, an Elder in the 
Xorth Side Covenanter Church. Pitts- 
burgh, Pennsylvania, was for years a sub- 



88 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



July, 1921. 



scriber to the Christian Cynosure and 
a faithful advocate of the antisecrecy 
cause. 

Air. J. B. Perham suffered much that 
he might bear faithful testimony to the 
truth as it opposed the lodge evil. The 
seed he was able to sow has borne fruit 
and will continue to bless through his 
children who hold their father's views re- 
garding the lodges. 

Rev. J. H. B. Williams was for years 
a member of the N. C. A. Board of 
Directors and later a Vice-President of 
our Association. He was an honored 
leader in the Church of the Brethren. His 
death occurred while in Africa, where he 
had gone with members of the Mission 
Board in church service. Why a useful 
man in middle life should be thus sud- 
denly called hence is one of the mysteries 
hard to understand. 

In the recent death of Mrs. M. E. 
McKee of Clarinda, Iowa, our Associa- 
tion has lost a faithful supporter. She 
contributed largely, in aid of the Cove- 
nanter Church to which she was strongly 
attached but did not forget to send an- 
nually in aid of our work. 

Rev. Jacob J. Zahniser was a brother 
loyal arid true. A leader in the Free 
Methodist Church. He loved the Lord 
and hated iniquity. He did much to cheer 
workers and help forward the antisecrecy 
cause. He is the first of four brothers 
(ministers of like precious faith) to be 
called from the battles of earth to the 
Heavenly rewards. 

These all having been faithful to their 

trust have entered into their reward. We 

shall miss them and pray that God may 

raise up new helpers as the need is great. 

W. B. Stoddard, 

A. W. S afford, 

Committee. 



GREETINGS TO ANNUAL MEETING. 

Mr. B. M. Holt, formerly secretary to 
Pierson Lodge No. 169, A. F. & A. M., 
of Barnesville, Minnesota, writes from 
Fargo, North Dakota : 

"It is now some ten years since I first 
became acquainted with the N. C. A. 
During that time a vast amount of in- 
formation, service and good-will has come 
to me through your office and the 
Cynosure. Being poor in health, I have 
been unable to repay the many courtesies 
you have extended to me. 



"Now that you are meeting in Annual 
Convention I beg to present to you my 
personal greetings. 

"A year ago this spring my wife and I 
were 'invited' to take up our abode in 
some other town. We were living in 
Barnesville, Minnesota, the town of our 
childhood, all our relatives and friends 
living there, or in the vicinity. This was 
rather a hard blow, especially when one 
considers that we had only a few months 
previously returned from a six years' ab- 
sence in Texas seeking health. 

"The influences at work against us 
were Masonic, and there being no choice 
in the matter, we had to pack our sack 
and go. And why should the Masons 
thus persecute us? Masonry can murder 
in more ways than one. If she dare not 
'tear out' the tongue of its seceder she 
will try to silence it some other way. 

"It was during our residence in Texas 
that the pamphlets I wrote against the 
lodge were issued. The one against Ma- 
sonry was sent to every member of Pier- 
son Lodge No. 169, of Barnesville, Min- 
nesota, of which I was the Masonic Sec- 
retary for three years. I was told that 
this pamphlet had enraged them much ; 
but now that five years had passed and 
we had been 'compelled' to return to our 
folks, being 'down and out' both physi- 
cally and financially, the Masonic element 
figured that right here was a good oppor- 
tunity to seek a compromise with me. So 
on a bright sunny June morning, eight or 
ten fine automobiles drove up in front of 
our door, loaded with well dressed mer- 
ry makers and good things to eat in 
bushel lots and we were invited to join 
them. Dinner and supper was served on 
selected spots in the forest such as one 
sees out in God's green and wonderfully 
endowed nature at that time of the year. 
The trip was 'a howling success' and aside 
from the fact that I did not function in 
accordance with their plans, all else went 
well. 

"People had thought my reasons for 
leaving the lodge were not so very serious, 
and now that I had 'made up' with the 
'jolly bunch,' what I had written in re- 
gard to their oaths, ceremonies and re- 
ligion must have all 'been a joke.' The 
fact that I did 'not dare,' as they said, 
speak one word against them at that pic- 
nic showed that I was shaky in my boots. 
The circumstances kept on developing un- 



July, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



89 



til finally I felt compelled to declare my 
position anew. 

"To prove that I was neither wrong nor 
cowardly I went out in the streets right 
among them and offered for sale my 
books against Masonry. I passed by no 
one, but offered my books to friend and 
foe alike. I was twice attacked and many 
times threatened with a broken neck, but 
the books kept on selling and I had to 
wire for more. I sold 154 copies in all. 
Now that they realized that I had not 
sold my soul to the Devil for a mess of 
fried fish and their auto ride, their per- 
secution at once began again. At first it 
seemed that they were only making them- 
selves ridiculous, but they had laid their 
plans carefully and secretly and at a mo- 
ment when we least expected it we found 
ourselves without a home and were asked 
"to try and find rooms somewhere else." 
Being dependent upon our relatives for 
immediate provisions for life, you will 
believe me when I say that when the 
Masons thus succeeded in turning our 
own folks against us so that they turned 
us out, it was a hard bump ! 

"In our three weeks of chasing from 
town to town to find rooms ( rooms were 
very scarce last year) we had occasion to 
return to Barnesville three times, but 
there was 'no one at home.' What a cold 
world this can be made to appear ! 

"In our search for rooms we reached 
one city at 2 130 one morning and people 
were walking the streets by the hundreds. 
The lodge people were in convention and 
had painted the town red, green and yel- 
low. All beds were reserved for the 
lodge people — some beds furnished with 
an extra occupant if desired by the lodge 
delegate. 

"We finally landed in Fargo, North 
Dakota, where we at last obtained rooms. 
My wife set out to find employment and 
I had to seek the advice of a physician. 
The reaction was telling on my nerves. 
After three weeks of thorough examina- 
tion at the clinic, under X-ray and mod- 
ern Floroscopic investigations the medi- 
cal profession knew of no remedy for 
cases such as mine. Having been in poor 
health ever since 1907 and unable to work 
since 1912, that was not extra good news. 
I broke down completely and my physical 
troubles increased. Mrs. Holt has had 
three surgical operations in her days and 



now her strength gave out. My, my, how 

blue things did look ! In going to bed at 
night we would say : 

One sweetly solemn thought 

Comes to me o'er and o'er, 
Nearer my home I am today 

Than ever I was before. 
Nearer the bound of life, 

Where burdens are laid down. 
Nearer the heavy cross to leave, 

Nearer to gain the crown. 

"All this we could say because Jesus 
has redeemed us with His holy and 
precious blood ! 

"Now you would naturally think that, 
having been stung so deeply and having 
failed so completely in all my anti-lodge 
efforts that I should learn at last not to 
'feed peanuts to angry elephants.' 

"About the time I got ready to give 
them up the Lord hands me another prob- 
lem and with it the necessary tonic. He 
leads me to the cross and points me to the 
crucified Saviour and says: 'All this for 
thee ; what are you doing for me ?' 

"The Masons have always been mind- 
ful of our whereabouts and we had not 
been in Fargo 2 months before I received 
an invitation from the Secretary of the 
Grand Lodge of North Dakota to come 
to the Masonic Temple and see Mr. Wal- 
ter L. Stockwell, said secretary, who 
added, 'Masonry had nothing to conceal.' 

"No man can fully realize what such a 
challenge meant to me. I seized the op- 
portunity by taking Masonry at its own 
words and sent to every Grand Lodge in 
the Union for their latest 'Grand Lodge 
Proceedings.' Some of these I had to 
pay dear for, others not. The various 
Proceedings I now have on hand embrace 
a review of all American Grand Lodges 
and other English speaking Grand bodice 
and thus cover the activities of practically 
every Grand Lodge in the world, from 
1917 to 192 1. The Proceedings in turn 
have led me into extended correspondence 
with leading Masonic officials all over 
America and Canada, giving me a set oi 
proofs against the Masonic system that 
will convince any honest seeker after the 
truth. Of course, now Mr. Stockwell 
realizes that he 'let the cat out of the bag' 
by his letter to me and now lie has sent a 
'committee' here to see me and to throw 



90 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



July, 1921. 



a scare into me and try to squelch me. 
But I did not happen to squelch ! I guess 
I have not got sense enough to become 
scared, at least that's what my wife says. 

"Mr. Stockwell has recently written me 
again and this time it is a very solemn 
and serious letter 'requesting,' — mind you, 
'requesting' ( !) — that I discontinue my 
voluminous correspondence with promi- 
nent Masons throughout the country. He 
says, 'I bother them.' I think Mr. Stock- 
well is somewhat bothered himself. Pilate, 
too, was at one time bothered. The truth 
always bothers. I expect another Ma- 
sonic delegation before the end of 192 1 
and I'm nearly always at home to wel- 
come company. 

"I have written twelve articles for your 
Cynosure on the basis of said proofs 
and the entire set is now in the hands of 
your Editor. It would please me greatly 
to have you peruse these new materials 
against the cult, and, if you deem them 
worthy and wise, to help me get these 
articles into tract form for distribution. 

"In conclusion permit me to extend to 
you all my kind good-will. Let us stand 
our ground boldly and if need be continue 
in battle and die on the fighting line." 

Fight the good light with all thy might, 
Christ is thy strength, and Christ thy right ; 
Lay hold on life, and it shall be 
Thy joy and crown eternally. 



Rev. J. E. Harwood of the Northern 
Michigan Conference, United Brethren 
in Christ, writes from Alma, Michigan : 

"I am very much interested in the work 
of the National Christian Association and 
am glad to receive the announcement of 
the coming convention in Chicago. I do 
not see how I can arrange to attend the 
Convention. Our general conference has 
just closed and leaves me to take up the 
duties of a new office. My prayers are 
with you in this your great work, and 
may it please God to wonderfully bless 
the coming convention." 



C. G. Sterling, Associate Superintend- 
ent of The Chicago Hebrew Mission, 
writes : 

"I am interested and will be pleased to 
attend if it is at all possible. * * * My in- 
terest and prayers will be with you." 



J. R. Schaffer, Director of Evening 
Classes of the Moody Bible Institute, 
writes : 

"Your letter regarding attendance upon 
the Annual Meeting of the Association 
received, and strange as it may seem, I 
am compelled to be absent. Our house 
has been sold over our heads and we have 
to move. I am heartily sorry but how 
can I avoid it?" 



Rev. K. J. Machines, a Presbyterian 
minister of Calvin, North Dakota, writes: 

"My prayers will follow the Christians 
at the Convention, praying that they may 
continue steadfast abounding in the work 
of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

"That men in some of the pulpits of 
Presbyterian churches — men reputed to 
be fine men, good preachers, popular 
Biblically and scholarly — should say 'You 
know Masonry is not a religion but a fine 
system of morality, which we ought to 
encourage rather than discourage/ is be- 
yond me, especially since they profess to 
preach 'To him that worketh not but be- 
lieveth on Him that justified the ungodly, 
faith is counted for righteousness.' 

"It seems to me that most of the 
preaching in many of our Protestant 
churches at present is ethics and in direct 
line of descent from the Marcus Aurelius 
paganism, or Masonry. 

"The best way to reach such is through 
the Christian women of their congrega- 
tions. If thirty members of a church of 
one hundred members would wait on 
their minister, asking him whether he has 
taken these awful oaths and if he still 
holds to them, will do more to convince 
him of his error than a ton of literature 
sent direct to him." 



Rev. B. E. Bergesen, a Lutheran pas- 
tor, Minneapolis, Minnesota, writes : 

"If I should send a greeting to the Con- 
vention it would be this : that the testi- 
mony of churches, pastor, the National 
Christian Association and especially the 
Christian Cynosure is needed more to- 
day than ever, as many have to an alarm- 
ing extent weakened in their testimony. 

"The big reason for the weakening of 
the testimony, not only against lodgery, 
which is but one of the outstanding evils 
along the whole line, is that pastors are 
valued by their church and superiors as 



July, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



"1 



well as by the world not by spiritual suc- 
cess or testimony to the truth, but accord- 
ing to success in the worldly sense of 
securing members and having an influen- 
tial church. We must raise the level. 
Power more than influence is needed. 

May God bless our Convention, our 
magazine and all our work against all sin 
and especially against the outstanding 
evils of todav. 



Mr. E. E. E. Bailey of San Fernando, 
California, writes: "I am sorry I cannot 
come to the Annual Meeting but I am 
sending you a contribution of $5 for the 
work of the N. C. A. God help the work. 



Rev. C. E. Chupp of Ossian, Indiana, 
writes : "We often think of you in your 
faithful work for God and humanity. 
Surely you can take courage and go for- 
ward. The people must be taught line 
upon line and precept upon precept. May 
God bless you." 



Elder I. N. H. Beahm, of the Church 
of the Brethren at Nokesville, Virginia, 
writes : "I thank you for the invitation 
to be with you June 1st. I am engaged 
for that day. Let it be hoped that the 
day will be great for good, for truth, in- 
telligence, enthusiasm and influence ! 



Mr. G. W. Smith of Greentown, 
Indiana, writes : "I would like to be there 
with you. Maybe I will but I cannot 
say for sure.'' 

Mr. J. W. Elliott of Shelby, Ohio, 
writes : "We live on a farm (wife and I) 
all alone and it is impossible to get help. 
We feel very sorry that circumstances 
are as they are, for we should like very 
much to have been in attendance, but 
perhaps I may be able to attend the Na- 
tional Convention in September next." 

Rev. A. M. Malcolm of Albia, Iowa, 
President of the Iowa Christian Associa- 
tion, writes : 

"I thank you for the kind invitation to 
attend the Annual N. C. A. Meeting, 
June 1st. I do not think it will be pos- 
sible for me to attend in view of other 
business, etc. I only wish I could be 
present, as I have often wished to be able 
to attend some of the meetings. I hope 



circumstances may be favorable for my 
attendance at the Convention in Septem- 
ber, but I cannot tell at this time. I hope 
the directors and officers may be wisely 
guided and abundantly blessed in all their 
undertaking's." 



Wm. E. Shaw of Kansas City, Mis- 
souri, writes: "We need some of your 
strongest leaders here in Kansas City, 
where the enemy of Jesus Christ makes 
his headquarters to secure the influence 
of Christianity by getting church mem- 
bers into his lodge. Masons are leaders 
in this plausible scheme and are deceiving 
some of the very elect.'' 



Mrs. P. T. Woodward of Adams (en- 
ter, Xew York, writes: "I would con- 
sider it a great privilege if I could be witli 
you at the Annual Meeting of the X. C. 
A. but my days for such things are past. 
I can, however, think back to the meeting 
at Batavia. New York, in 1882 which I 
attended at the time the Morgan Monu- 
ment was unveiled and I thought it was a 
very interesting meeting and I enjoyed it 
much. May the Lord's blessing re>t 
upon the meeting and all who shall be 
able to attend. My thoughts and prayers 
will be with vou all.'' 



Dr. L. Halcault, of Bruxelles. Man., 
writes: k 'I would advise — as a veteran 
of the holy war, 1870-1921 — your dear 
and my dear friends of the National 
Christian Association to procure each a 
cop)- of the famous 'Protocols' of the 
Talmudo-Kaballo-Pharisians of Sion 
(Sionist Congress Basle. \^>~). trans- 
lated in English ( Boston, Small Maynard, 
1918), from the original Serge Hilus, 
Russian edition. 1905. Each to stud) 
that profoundly, the great revelation of 
the century about Jud-Masonry, You 
will not regret money and time spent." 



Rev. A. ( i. Dornheim oi Warren. 
Pennsylvania, writes: "1 am still much 
interested in the CYNOSURE which con- 
tinues to be a wise guide in the examina- 
tion of Secretism's increasing number oi 
organizations, certainly strange and re- 
markable flowerings ^^\ this monster plant 
of darkness. 1 trust you will have a 
helpful and successful meeting which cir- 
cumstances will prevent me from attend- 
ing." 



92 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



July, 1921. 



Mr. Louis Joh, of Violetville, Mary- 
land, writes : "I believe that the lodge is 
a greater menace to the Protestant church 
in our country to-day than any other 
force for evil. And I believe that it is 
more the fault of the ministry than it is 
the fault of the laymen, because they 
should know and in many cases do know 
better but will not stand up for the truth/' 



Our old friend Thos. K. Bufkin, of 
Pasadena, California, writes: ''Distance 
and old age forbid my attending the 
Convention. You can certainly know I 
am much interested in the good work the 
Association is doing for I have been a 
constant subscriber to the Cynosure for 
a little over fifty years and am much in- 
terested in its work and pray for its prog- 
ress. I consider secret societies one of 
the greatest hindrances of the Christian 
church to-day." 



Among other friends who wrote letters 
for our Annual Convention were John 
Hoogenboom, Goshen, Indiana ; Mrs. 
Hedda Worcester, Rockford, Illinois ; 
Miss Nancy S. Coleman, Enid, Okla- 
homa ; John G. Scott, Jersey City, New 
Jersey ; John Holman, Humboldt, Ne- 
braska ; W. Patterson, Howes Cave, New 
York; O. N. Barnes, Fayette, Ohio, and 
a score of others which we wish we had 
time to mention. 



The only true way to serve God is 
Daniel's way. Grasshopper Christians, 
who take a leap in God's service during a 
revival and then sit still in cold and try- 
ing times when their activity is most 
needed, are of very little acount in God's 
kingdom. — Wm. Lazv. 

As I was thus in a muse, I saw myself 
within the arms of grace and mercy, and 
though I was before afraid to think of a 
dying hour, yet, now I cried, Let me die ! 
Now death was lovely and beautiful in 
my sight, for I saw we shall never live 
indeed till we be gone to the other world. 
Oh ! methought this life is but a slumber 
in comparison with that above. At this 
time also I saw more in these words, 
"Heirs of God," than I ever shall be able 
to express while I live in this world. 
"Heirs of God!" God Himself is the 
portion of the saints. — Bitnyan. 



THE LODGE A COUNTERFEIT. 

BY II. C. CASSEL, PHILADELPHIA, PA. 
A paper read at General Conference, Day- 
ton, Ohio, August, 1913, and published by or- 
der of Conference, Progressive Brethren. 

Space is too limited for details, but it 
is necessary to give an outline of what 
the lodge is, in order to bring the matter 
intelligently before you. Freemasonry in 
particular, and all other lodges in gen- 
eral. 

I hope no one will object if I quote 
their own authors, especially such works 
as "The Lexicon of Freemasonry," by 
Albert G. Mackey; "Robert Morris in 
Masonic Trowel," by L. E. Reynolds; 
"Origin and Early History of Freema- 
sonry," by G. W. Steinbrenner ; "History 
and Cyclopedia and Dictionary of Free- 
masonry," by Robert Macoy and others. 
All of these are standards works of 
authority among Masons. 

I want to very briefly discuss two 
phases of the subject assigned to me: 
First, what relation does the lodge sus- 
tain to the Christian Church? Second, 
what general effect has membership in 
the lodge upon the individual life? 
The Relation of Lodge and Church. 
First. As I see it, the only relation 
lodges sustain to the Christian church is 
that of counterfeits. They profess to 
transport their members from the lodge 
below to the "Grand Lodge above," with- 
out a confession of sin; without a con- 
fession of Christ ; without a confession 
of the Holy Spirit; without the vica- 
rious atonement ; without baptism or 
church rites. Denying the Holy Scrip- 
tures, which declare that the blood of 
Jesus Christ is the only antidote for sin, 
they offer to God nothing but their own 
righteousness, which is in His sight but 
filthy rags. 

Freemasonry, the mother of all lodges, 
claims to save men from all sin without 
the covenants and promises of God. I 
quote from the "Lexicon of Freemason- 
ry" by Albert G. Mackey : 

"When, then, we are asked, 'What is 
Freemasonry?' we answer: Tn the first 
place, that it is a science which engages 
us in the search after divine truth.' 

"Freemasonry is, then, also a religious 
institution. The very science which it 
inculcates is in itself the science of re- 
ligion." Page 30. 



Tub 



[921 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



93 



"Freemasonry is emphatically a re- 
ligious institution. It teaches the exist- 
ence of God. It points to the celestial 
canopy above where the eternal lodge is 
and where He presides. It instructs the 
way to reach the portals of that distant 
temple. " Page 32. 

"All the ceremonies of our order are 
prefaced and terminated with prayer, be- 
cause Masonry is a religious institution." 
Page 369. 

"Masonry does not deal with the per- 
version of things, but is only illustrative 
of the regenerated man." 

"A lodge in general signifies heaven, 
or the dwelling place of the Lord, and 
includes all on earth who are being truly 
prepared for heaven." 

"Each man who is about to be regen- 
erated is led by his guardian angel to the 
door of the lodge, of which it is said, 
'Seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall 
be opened unto you.' ' 

"Regeneration, or Masonry, proceeds 
in progressive order, states or degrees. 
Man cannot work or correct the irregu- 
larities of life until he is clothed with 
innocence or the badge of a Mason." 
"Masonic Trowel," by L. E. Reynolds, 
P.M. and P.H.P., Chicago, 1870, pages 
101. 131, 188, 214, 219, 237. 

"Masonry can and will educate the 
pious man to that higher religion, that 
religion in which all men can agree, 
which, indeed, embraces the lower re- 
ligions of creeds and sects." See "Origin 
and Early History of Freemasonry" by 
G. W. Steinbrenner. 

"The lodge is, at the time of the re- 
ception of an entered apprentice, a sym- 
bol of the world and the initiation a type 
of the new life upon which the candidate 
is about to enter. There he stands with- 
out our portals on the threshold of the 
new Masonic life in darkness, helpless- 
ness and ignorance, having been wander- 
ing amid the errors, and covered over 
with the pollutions of the outer and pro- 
fane world, he comes inquiringly to our 
doors, seeking the new birth and asking a 
withdrawal of the veil which conceals 
divine truth from his uninitiated sight." 
(Just think, dear brethren, a minister of 
the Gospel thus repudiating the blood of 
Christ!) "And here, as with Moses at 
the burning bush the solemn admonition 
is given. 'Put off thy shoes from off thy 



feet for the place whereon thou standest 
is holy ground,' and ceremonial prepara- 
tions surround him, all of a significant 
character to indicate to him that some 
great change is about to take place in his 
moral and intellectual condition." "He 
is already beginning to discover that the 
design of Masonry is to introduce him 
to the new views of life and its duties." 
"He was indeed to commence with new 
lessons in a new school of experience. 
There is to be, not simply a change for 
the future, but also an extinction of the 
past." "For the initiation is. as it were, 
a death to the world and a resurrection 
to a new life." Pages 20, 21, "Lodge 
Manual," by Albert G. Mackey. YVe learn 
from the above statement that the lodge 
professes to forgive sins. 

"We now find man complete in moral- 
ity and intelligence with the stay of re- 
ligion added to insure him the protection 
of the Deity, and guard him against ever 
going astray. These three degrees thus 
form a harmonious whole ; nor can we 
conceive that anything can be suggested 
more which the soul of man requires." 
"Masons Monitor," by Sides, pages 97, 
98. A resolution that was rejected: 
"Resolved. That candidates for Masonry 
be required to avow their belief not only 
in the existence of God, but in the divine 
authenticity of His Word as revealed in 
the Bible." "Digest of Masonic Law." by 
Chase, page 207. This was a splendid 
resolution but was rejected. 

We learn, then, from their own 
authors and from their funeral services, 
that Masonry, as well as nearly all other 
lodges, professes to transport their mem- 
bers from the lodge below to the "Grand 
Lod^e above," on the merits of mere 
membership in their organization, tor 
which there is not a shadow of authority 
in the entire word of God. 

They have an altar, but it cannot be 
the altar of God because it lacks the 
necessary sacrifice, ami that sacrifice 
lodges necessarily reject because they re- 
ceive into fellowship Christ-haters, such 
as unregenerated Jews, Mohammedans, 
Hindus and Pagans. It is a mystery to 
me how those professing to be Christians 
can yoke up and enter into fellowship 
with these Christ-haters and take such 
fearful oaths and obligations to keep the 
secrets of brother Masons 1 murder and 



94 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



July, 1921. 



treason only excepted, and those left to 
their discretion) in direct violation of 
our Lord's imperative command to 
"swear not at all," and to "come out from 
among them" and "be not unequally 
yoked together with unbelievers." 

A man that says he believes in God 
and rejects the Lord Jesus Christ is an 
unbeliever. He is an infidel. "He that 
honoreth not the Son, honoreth not the 
Father which has sent him." "No man 
cometh to the Father but by me." — Jesus. 
"He that hath the Son hath life, he that 
hath not the Son hath not life!" Life 
was forfeited in Eden. Christ alone can 
restore or impart life. In Adam all died. 
In Christ all are made alive who accept 
Him and come into vital union with Him 
through the new birth. Hence, Jesus 
says to Nicodemus, "Verily, verily I say 
unto thee, except a man be born again he 
cannot see the Kingdom of God." How 
can a man be loyal to Christ and be a 
part and party to an institution that re- 
jects these fundamental truths? The 
only solution that I can find to the ques- 
tion is, that either the man has never 
been born again, or that he has never 
stopped to think or tried to find out what 
the institution really is. I am charitable 
enough to believe that many belong to 
this latter class. Some will say when 
you refer to these oaths and obligations, 
that no Mason takes them seriously. Ah ! 
but God does ! Listen ! "But I say unto 
you that for every idle word men shall 
speak they shall give an account thereof 
in the day of Judgment. For by thy 
words thou shalt be justified, and by th)> 
words thou shalt be condemned." (Matt. 
12:36-37.) 

Brethren, we cannot afford to trifle 
with the Word of God, which saith, 
"Swear not at all." (Matt. 5:34; James 
5 :i2.) Whether it be the civil or profane 
oath, it is a willful violation of God's im- 
perative command. We should thank God 
with our heart that provision has been 
made in the Constitution of the United 
States, that those who fear God and love 
to keep His commandments are not com- 
pelled to swear, but can affirm, when 
called before Magistrates. How incon- 
sistent and disloyal to the Gospel and 
the church for brethren to swear in the 
lodge and then refuse to take the civil 
oath. Whether, therefore, a brother takes 



the civil, profane or lodge oath, he wil- 
fully violates the imperative command of 
Jehovah, and one of the fundamental 
tenets of the Brethren church. Can any 
brother afford to do so for any earthly 
benefits that can be derived from such an 
earthly and ungodly institution? Breth- 
ren, let us be honest with the Word and, 
the church. Life is too short and impor- 
tant to take any chances. 

The Lodge Rejects the Vital Principle. 

One of the evidences that the secret 
lodge system is Satan's masterpiece of 
deception is that fact that they adopt 
some of the most attractive features of 
Christianity and adroitly dispense with 
its most central and vital principle, which 
is the vicarious atonement, and the words 
of Christ, as recorded in John 3 .-5, 
"Verily, verily I say unto thee, except a 
man be born of water and of the spirit, 
he cannot enter into the Kingdom of 
God." This is an unqualified statement 
of the Saviour himself. How dare peo- 
ple presume to be saved without it; 
lodges have no authority, neither do they 
pretend to supply this necessary qualifi- 
cation and yet pretend to supply all the 
soul of man needs. 

The hiding of these fundamental 
truths, upon which rests the whole 
scheme of redemption, is the most in- 
sidious and injurious method of attack- 
ing the cause of Christ that could possi- 
bly be invented. If men would but stop 
and think they could not help but see 
that the Devil is at the bottom of the 
whole secret empire. 

The Masonic lodge, especially, fosters 
the enemies of Christ, such as unregen- 
erated Jews, Mohammedans, Hindus and 
Pagans, and utterly rejects those of 
Christ's little ones, who may be maimed, 
halt, lame and blind. These unfortunate 
creatures cannot come into possession of 
the mysteries and blessings which Ma- 
sonry professes to be able to bestow, even 
helping a man out of darkness, helpless- 
ness and ignorance. What shall a man 
do that is in the above state? An insti- 
tution that can but will not help aman 
out of such an awful dilemma is wicked 
and cannot be of God, who makes His 
sun to shine upon the just and the unjust 
and is good to the unthankful. 

According to Masonry, they cannot 
get the new birth except in the Masonic 



July, 1921 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



95 



lodge, and Jesus said to Nicodemus, that 
unless man be born again, he could 
neither see nor enter into the Kingdom 
of God, and the Word of God says, 
''Without holiness, no man shall see the 
Lord." Masonry teaches that those that 
are not initiated into Masonry are "cov- 
ered over with the pollution of the outer 
world," and yet makes it impossible for 
a large part of the human race to get 
cleansed. Masonry does not even con- 
sider the young man who has, through 
the influence of pious parents, been con- 
verted, saved and sanctified, and filled 
with the Spirit of God, and has been 
educated in the best theological school. 
He comes to the portals of the Masonic 
lodge, ignorant, helpless and polluted, 
just the same. Brethren, if that is not 
sacrilegious, what is ? 

The wisdom, righteousness, sanctifica- 
tion and redemption which the Lord 
Jesus Christ has been made unto us does 
not count in a Freemason lodge. The 
"whoever will," as taught by our Lord, 
is out of the question with Masonry, and 
in fact with all other lodges. Who-so- 
ever-we-will-accept and has the money to 
pay for this stupendous folly may join. 
The unfortunates of this world will have 
to look elsewhere for comfort and con- 
solation and (glory to God!) it is abun- 
dantly provided for them by the Rock of 
Offense, which these builders reject. He 
hath become the head of the corner. He 
says, "Come unto me all ye that labor 
and are heavy laden, and I will give you 
rest." But these builders that are spurn- 
ing with contempt the blessed invitation 
of free grace through the vicarious atone- 
ment and are going about to establish 
their own righteousness by their good 
work will find out some day that the Lord 
meant just what He said, that "our 
righteousness is as filthy rags" before 
Him. 

The Value of Cain's Offering. 

All lodges have an altar, but not one 
of them has a sacrifice. God had re- 
spect unto Abel's offering because he 
brought an acceptable sacrifice. But, unto 
Cain's offering, God had not respect, be- 
cause he brought only the fruit of his 
labor. The same condition maintained 
on Mt. Carmel. God had respect unto 
Elijah's offering because it was made 
unto the true God and according to the 



Divine Command. But unto the offer- 
ing of the prophets of Baal, God had not 
respect although there were four hun- 
dred and fifty prophets of Baal against 
the Prophet Elijah, which is an evidence 
that numbers don't count with God, but 
His Word shall stand when heaven and 
earth shall have passed away. Their 
offering was not made unto the true God, 
but unto idols. Masonry is founded on 
heathen mythology and is rank idolatry. 
It does not recognize the God of the 
Bible, nor the inspiration of the Bible, 
nor Jesus Christ, as the only begotten 
Son of God. 

God says, "In the latter days many 
false teachers shall come and deceive 
many." They are among us now, and 
are multiplying fast, and many are being 
deceived so that the very elect are in 
danger ; but it should be evident to every 
true believer that the secret empire is 
anti-Christ and will be a part of the body, 
if not the head of the "Man of Sin" that 
shall be revealed as recorded in 2 Thessa- 
lonians 2 13. 

Already many churches are so com- 
pletely under lodge domination that those 
opposed to the lodge are powerless to rid 
themselves of this secret viper that has 
got his fangs into the very vitals of the 
life of the church. The prophecy is be- 
ing fulfilled, that blind guides are lead- 
ing the blind, and both falling in the 
ditch together, because in many churches, 
pastor and people have become unequally 
yoked and have taken oaths and obliga- 
tions in direct violation to the will of 
God, and the Spirit of God has been 
grieved away. The worship in many 
churches is cold and formal. There is 
no travailing, nor bringing forth, neither 
is there any mourning nor yearning in 
prayer for souls. We are in perilous 
times and scarcely realize it, because we 
wrestle not against flesh and blood, but 
against the powers of darkness and 
against spiritual wickedness in high 
places. 

1 To be continued. ) 



If yon have lost yourself in sin. you 
can find yourself in repentance. 



Jabez says: We used to pick our of- 
ficials. Now they pick us — and pick us 
clean. 



CHRISTIAN WORKERS' TRACTS 



MASONIC OBLIGATIONS 

BJue Ix)dge Oaths (Illinois WorK? ; Masonic 
Penalties; Are Masonic Penalties tiver Enforced? 
Masonic Arrogance ; Masonic Despotism ; Grand 
Lodge Powers ; Disloyalty to Country ; Our Re- 
sponsibility as Christians: What Can Be Done! 
ltj pages. Postpaid, 5 cents a copy; a package 
of 12 for 30 cents. 

THE OPEN CONFESSION 

By Rev. Dr. James M. Gray, Dean of The 
Moody Bible Institute. An address on the rela- 
tion of the Christian, and especially the Chris- 
tian minister, to the secret oath-bound lodge. 
16 pages; postpaid, 5 cents a copy. A package 
of 12 for 30 cents. 

MY REASONS 

Far Not Joining- the Masonic Fraternity, by 
Rev. R. A. Torrey, D. D., Dean of the Bible 
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LOCGE BURIAL SERVICES. 

Should a Christian Participate in Them? 4 
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God's Word or the OFher Mans Conscience' — 
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copies for 5 cents. A package of 25 for 25 cents. 

LODGE RELIGION. 

The Fundamental Doctrine, the "Universal 
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pages; postpaid, 3 copies for 5c. A package of 
L5 for 25 cents. 

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NATIONAL CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION 
850 W. Madison Sl CHICAGO. ILL 




VOL. LIV. 



CHICAGO, AUGUST, 1921. 




Lives of great men all remind us, 
We can make our lives sublime, 

And, departing, leave behind us, 
Footprints on the sands of time. 

Footprints that perhaps another. 
Sailing o'er life's solemn main, 

A forlorn and shipwrecked brother, 
Seeing, may take heart again. 

Let us then, be up and doing. 
With a heart for any fate: 

Still achieving, still pursuing. 
Learn to labor and to wait." 

— Longfellow 




OFFICIAL ORGAN, NATIONAL CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION 
15 CENTS A COPY ESTABLISHED 1868. $1.50 A YEAR 



VOL. LIV. Xo. 4. 



CHICAGO. 



AUGUST, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 

Published Monthly by the National Christian 
Association. 



WM. I. PHILLIPS 

850 West Madison Street, Chicago. 

Managing Editor. 



TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION 

PRICE— Per year, in advance, $1.50; three 
months, on trial, thirty-five cents; single 
copies, fifteen cents. 

PRESENTATION COPIES— Many persons sub- 
scribe for the Christian Cynosure to be sent 
to FRIENDS. In such cases, if we are advised 
that a subscription is a present and not regu* 
larly authorized by the recipient, we wi 
make a memorandum to discontinue at ex- 
piration, and to send no bill for the ensuing 
year. 

BUSINESS LETTERS should be addressed to 
Wm. I. Phillips, Gen. Secy., at the above ad- 
dress. 

Entered as Second-class matter May 19, 1897, 
(Lt the Po<*t Office at Chicago, 111., under Act of 
Mar:a 3, 1873. 



CONTENTS 



Poem, by Longfellow. . Cover 

Ministerial Experiences in Connection with 
Secret Societies. By Rev. C. G. Sterling 99 

He's an Elk, poem 101 

A Minister Leaves the Odd Fellows 102 

Warns Ku Klux Klan— The Butte Daily 
Post • 103 

Ceremony of Baptism, Ancient and Ac- 
cepted Scottish Rite (continued) 103 

Ritual Brotherhood of Railway Clerks 
(continued) 106 

It's Bunk, Boys— The Kablegram 109 

Order of the Builders of Boys — The 
Kablegram 110 

The Lodge a Counterfeit. By H. C. Cassel 

(continued) HO 

The Question of the Hour. By E. E. Flagg 112 



Letters from Our Friends 118 

The Masonic Church — Lutheran Sentinel. 120 
Extracts from an Address of Hon. Wil- 
liam Jennings Bryan 120 

News of Our Work : 

A New Financial Solicitor 121 

National Convention 121 

Eastern Secretary's Report. By Rev. W. 

B. Stoddard 122 

"Lizzie Wood's Letter." By Mrs. L. W. 

Roberson ■ 123 

Southern Agents Report. By Rev. F. J. 
Davidson 127 



NATIONAL CHRISTIAN ASSOCIA- 
TION. 



President, Rev. John F. Heemstra; 
Vice-President, Rev. Wm. B. Rose, 

Recording Secretary, Mrs. N. E. Kel- 
logg; Secretary-Treasurer, Wm. I. 
Phillips. 



BOARD OF DIRECTORS. 

Walter Wietzke, A. W. Safford, G. W. 
Hylkema, Wm. P. Ferries, J. R. Shaf- 
fer, G. W. Bond, M. P. F. Doermann, 
A. H. Leaman, C. A. Blanchard, George 
Slager and Thos. C. McKnight. 



LECTURERS. 

Those desiring lectures or addresses 
may write to any of the speakers named 
below : 

Rev. W. B. Stoddard, Box 94, East 
Falls Church, Virginia 

Rev. Adam Murrman, Arena, Wis. 

Rev. F. J. Davidson, 927 St. Maurice 
Ave., New Orleans, La. 

Mrs. Lizzie W. Roberson, 2864 Corby 
St., Omaha, Neb. 

Pres. C. A. Blanchard, Wheaton, 111 



H 



There is none 
other Name 
under heaven, 
given among 
men, whereby 
we must be 
saved. 

— Acts 4:12 



CHRISTIAN 

CYNOSURE 



Jesus answered 
him: I spake 
openly to the 
world, and in 
secret have I 
said nothing. 
—John 18:20 



MINISTERIAL EXPERIENCES IN 

CONNECTION WITH SECRET 

SOCIETIES. 

BY REV. C. G. STERLING. 

As a minister of the Gospel, I have al- 
ways felt that I could have no part in 
secret societies. I have observed that 
secret society members often seem to 
rely on the moral standards of their or- 
ganizations as a substitute for the atone- 
ment for sin and the new life which are 
provided for us through the Son of God. 

An examination at different times of 
several lodge rituals confirmed the im- 
pression that the teachings of these or- 
ganizations promote reliance on self- 
righteousness rather than on "God's 
righteousness," and are therefore sub- 
versive of the Gospel of God's grace and 
are calculated to establish sinners in a 
false hope. 

I am persuaded that many ministers 
join lodges (with good motives it may 
be, but) without sufficiently careful in- 
vestigation and reflection. This is evi- 
denced by the fact that these men, who 
are of a class that usually stay by what 
they undertake, have become in very 
large numbers merely nominal members 
of their societies. Their names furnish 
prestige to the organizations ; but their 
devotion is not ardent. 

I am quite sure I could name as many 
as twenty different ministers of various 
evangelical denominations, who have ad- 
mitted to me that they have regretted 
their connection with the secret orders. 
The reasons given by them have been 
pretty much the same in significance, 
though some have expressed keener feel- 
ings of disappointment than others : and 
some have been more outspoken than 
others in their present attitude of posi- 
tive hostility to secretism. 

The first minister who voluntarily 
spoke to me of his connection with the 
lodge (Masonic) was a Congregational 



Pastor in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. I think 
the occasion of his introducing the sub- 
ject was an incident which occurred in 
connection with my own parish. I had 
been called upon to conduct the funeral 
service of a man whose family had 
connection as I recall, with the ( Pres- 
byterian) church of which I was Pastor. 
Ater acquiescing in the request of the 
family to take charge of the funeral. I 
was called upon by an official of one of 
the lodges (Foresters I think was the 
order) with the information that the 
lodge wished to participate in the serv- 
ices at the grave. I requested the loan 
of a copy of the lodge ritual, that 1 
might examine it. On careful reading. I 
discovered there was no recognition of 
our Lord and Saviour. I therefore 
stated to the official that I could not con- 
sent to a joint service: that is that 1 
could not agree to combine the two serv- 
ices, as was requested, but suggested that 
I would close my service with the 
Christian benediction, and then, if the 
family desired an additional service by 
the lodge, I would feel free from any re- 
sponsibility for it. I made it clear to the 
lodge official that I intended no dis- 
courtesy ; but that I could not give ap- 
proval and endorsement to a religious 
ceremony or service, which omitted all 
reference to the One necessary Mediator. 
by including such a ritual within the 
bounds of my own Christian service — as 
would be done by withholding the Chris- 
tian benediction to the end. 

We reached a definite understanding in 
the matter, he agreeing to reserve his 
lodge service until mine had been com- 
pleted with the benediction. Apparently 
both o\ us were satisfied. 1 low ever. 
when the program a- agreed upon was 
being carried out. there was an inter- 
ruption: before 1 could open my lips to 
pronounce the benediction the official and 
Ins group promptly arranged themselves 



100 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



August, 1921. 



L 



for their proceedings and the ritual was 
immediately begun. 

It was carried to the end and then 
with a motion to me the leader indicated 
his desire for the benediction. I replied 
by simply shaking my head. A few days 
later a write-up of the affair appeared in 
one of the local newspapers. A certain 
clergyman (unnamed) being charged 
with creating a scene and marring a 
funeral service by his discourtesy. 

I think it was the (perverted) account 
of the above occurrence which led the 
minister above referred to, to open the 
subject of secret societies in the con- 
versation we were having soon after. His 
statement to me was "I used to be a 
Mason, but my conscience would not al- 
low me to retain my membership." I 
remember his words definitely. He add- 
ed that great persuasion was exerted to 
secure the retraction of his action but 
to no effect ; he remained firm in his de- 
termination to cut himself off from any 
further connection with the Order. This 
brother did not give any details in con- 
nection with his experience or his dis- 
satisfaction with the order. The simple 
statement above quoted, with the addi- 
tional remark about the effort made to 
restrain him was all he expressed. I felt 
that his purpose in introducing the mat- 
ter was to indicate his approval of my 
course in the above related occurrence 
though he did not refer to it directly. 

Many conversations have I had since 
that time with clergymen of various de- 
nominations, who have said to me in 
substance the same thing — that they had 
to retract their lodge vows and with- 
draw from all further allegiance to their 
orders, because of the conviction that 
the connection was sinful. Some have 
enlarged upon their experiences : some 
have indicated and manifested the con- 
straint of conscience to testify more or 
less openly against the lodge. In a few 
cases the confession hi dissatisfaction 
with the lodge and the conviction of its 
inconsistency with Christian ideals has 
been elicited by questions on my own 
part to men, whose evident indifference 
to their lodge relations I had observed 
and wished to learn the cause of. In the 
majority of cases, however, the ministers 
themselves have made advances in the 
matter of their adverse testimony con- 



cerning the several orders with which 
they have been connected. 

I shall not soon forget a testimony 
given to me by a parishioner of a Brother 
pastor of mine in Indianapolis, at a time 
when his pastor had just united with 
the Masons. The parishioner was himself 
a member of the Masonic lodge ; yet, 
suddenly surprised by the information 
that his pastor had united, he exclaimed, 
with an added double repetition of his 
words, "He has made a great mistake." 
What he thought of the effect on his own 
Christian profession I do not know, but 
he evidently felt a deep sense of incon- 
sistency between ambassadorship for our 
Lord and the endorsement of a Christ- 
less religion. 

The personal experience narrated 
above in connection with secret society 
funeral services is not the only one my 
ministry has brought to me. In a cer- 
tain Indiana charge I was requested to 
conduct a funeral service jointly with 
the Odd-Fellows lodge. This was the 
first request from any chapter of that 
order. As on the previous occasion, 
when dealing with the Foresters, I re- 
quested the privilege of examining the 
ritual. A single quotation from the Book 
of Job suggested the possible thought of 
our Lord, by the use of the word "Re- 
deemer" ; but I felt that, while to the in- 
structed Christian this application of the 
word would be clear as the intention of 
the Holy Spirit, the author of the ritual, 
and the organization using it, could 
hardly be thought to intend such a refer- 
ence — at least in the way of definite 
testimony. It would have been so easy, 
so natural, to have quoted additionally 
from the New Testament or to have dis- 
tinctly named our Lord Jesus : I felt that 
this omission was fairly equivalent to a 
denial. My conclusion therefore was to 
decline the request for a joint service. 
The result was — I was let out of the 
service altogether ; the Odd-Fellows 
alone conducted it. A little later a be- 
loved brother in the true faith — a 
parishioner of mine — who was also an 
Odd-Fellow, was to be laid to rest. The 
family, knowing my attitude, proposed 
an arrangement which I felt I could con- 
sistently accept and it proved agreeable 
to the lodge also. I was to conduct the 
service at the house, concluding it with 



August, 1921, 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



101 



the benediction. The lodge was then to 
take full charge of the cortege and of 
the further service at the grave. I did 
not attend the latter. Other burial ex- 
periences, varied in the circumstances 
and the action, followed those above re- 
lated, but I will not extend this account 
of personal incidents. 

Aside from the obligation to ring true 
as a preacher of the one and only Name 
under Heaven given among men for 
salvation, I have always felt that on 
moral grounds alone membership in a 
secret society is a sin per se. The proof 
of this proposition is self-evident, it 
seems to me, so soon as one recognizes 
clearly what a secret society essentially is. 
So much has been written and spoken 
in the defense of secretism, which is 
wide of the mark, because of the failure 
to think and speak clearly on the funda- 
mental principles involved ! For example 
it has been alleged that "every family is 
a secret society," the argument upholding 
the proposition being to the effect that 
privacy is observed in family relations. 
Secret meetings of ordinary social, edu- 
cational and business organizations are 
referred to as if they were analogous. 

The distinguishing characteristic of a 
secret society is that it requires of all 
candidates a blind pledge to secrecy. 
Such an act is to my mind a sin per se. 
I cannot see that any man has a right to 
bind himself to keep from his fellowuien 
knowledge of any one (even) or more 
things, the substance of which he is not 
aware of when he makes the pledge. 
Such an act constitutes in my judgment a 
surrender of independence, a crippling of 
conscience, an annulment of individual 
responsibility. Every moral agent should 
be free to deal with every item of knowl- 
edge as his own conscience may direct. 
It signifies nothing in this connection 
that he may be assured, before taking his 
pledge or oath, that "there is nothing in 
the obligation which will conflict with his 
duty to God or man or country," since no 
other than himself can be the judge of 
such a fact. Individual consciences do 
by no means act alike, and no one can 
certainly declare what another man's con- 
science will require of him. This ob- 
jection is not merely an academic one : 
in very reality in practical life, injustices, 
immoralities, betrayals of trust, murders 



even have been connived at because of 
previous oaths to concealment, which but 
for these rasli pledge^ would never have 
been winked at. 

Remembering then that "privacy" is 
not necessarily secrecy; that secrecy i> 
often (rightly) observed without any 
pledge ; that even pledged secrecy is ai 
times proper and perhaps desirable, when 
the thing pledged to be secreted is 
definitely before the promiser, we >till 
declare that the invariable condition of 
membership in a secret society, namely a 
blind pledge to secrecy is un-American, 
un-Christian, unmanly. 

This principle of a blind pledge i- nol 
the only primary objection to secret so- 
cieties, but to me it is an all-sufficient 
one. So without reference to any other 
considerations I testify that this con- 
sideration constrains me to oppose all 
secret societies. 
— Chicago, 111. 



HE'S AN ELK. 

If he's looking up, not down. 

He's an Elk ; 

If he'd rather smile than frown, 

He's an Elk ; 

If he's jolly, broad and fat. 

If he wears a man's-sized hat. 

Take your tip from things that — 

He's an Elk. 

If he sees some good in all. 

He's an Elk ; 

If he helps the men who fall, 

He's an Elk ; 

If he looks you in the eye. 

If he's shrewd, but never sly. 

Gives a courteous reply. 

He's an Elk. 

When lie dies and goes above, 

Brother Elk, 

To the Golden Lodge oi Love, 

Brother Elk. 

Does St. Peter hesitate? 

No; he swings the Pearl} date: 

"Come in; you don't have to wait. 

Brother Elk."" 

— Sault Ste. Marie Enquirer. 

This poem is a ^ood one — against the 
Elks. The Elk goes to heaven by this 
good works, without Christ. The Elk 
has a Christless religion and a Christless 
God and a Christless heaven. But Christ 
says, "No man cometh unto the Father 
but by Me." 

— Milwaukee Lutheran, Feb., 1921. 



102 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



August, 1921. 



A MINISTER LEAVES THE ODD- 
FELLOWS. 

During a revival in our church in the 
winter of 1921 our minster wore his 
"three links pin" in the pulpit. This 
troubled me night and day until it be- 
came so I could have no peace. I spoke 
to a brother in the church about it but 
he advised that I need not bother myself 
about it as that was the minister's busi- 
ness. Another sanctified brother with 
whom I was in full sympathy in other 
things counselled, "Let's just keep on 
praying and let God work in his own 
time and way. Something's going to hap- 
pen." Then relatives learned my views 
and advised, "You keep still; you've 
never been in a lodge room ; you don't 
know anything about the lodge; it's all 
right ; wait until the revival is over. You 
will just hurt the minister's feelings. He 
has enough to contend with now." 

There came a time when it seemed to 
me it would be worshipping the beast to 
acquiesce, so I said doggedly, "I'll not do 
it." I went over to the church, which is 
only a short distance from my home. I 
went early to help sweep out before serv- 
ices, but God's time had not come so I 
returned home before church. I was 
somewhat impatient and the Devil was 
already hindering me. The next evening 
while I was standing in a shed I could see 
my brother and the minister and another 
brother in the church going to the church. 
I kneeled after a time and said, "Lord, 
if I am thy child, I pray thee to tell me 
what to do." A voice said, "Well, go on 
over there." 

When I went into the church, the min- 
ister was asleep. He soon awakened and 
after a time spoke to me. I hesitated a 
long while and was almost on the point 
of returning home. There were now only 
three of us in the church, my own broth- 
er having returned home. I said, 
"Brother . . . . , there is something that 
has been bothering me and if you will 
take it in the right spirit, I would like to 
tell you what it is." He assented, and I 
said, "It is that lodge pin there on your 
coat lapel. I hate it and I believe it is 
hindering the revival." As I am deaf, 
he made no reply but smiled pleasantly 
and I proceeded to quote Scripture. I 
do not just remember the exact order but 
I said the Bible says, "Be ye not un- 



equally yoked together with unbelievers." 
I asked him if there were not unbelievers 
in his lodge. He replied, yes. I said the 
Bible says, "Blessed is the man that walk- 
eth not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor 
standeth in the way of sinners, nor sit- 
teth in the seat of the scornful." Now 
when you go to the lodge and problems 
come up for solution, don't you exchange 
counsel with those unbelievers? Don't 
you sit with them? Don't you stand in 
the way of them? Share their joys, fel- 
lowship, etc.? He said, yes. Then I 
said, "It also says in the Bible not to 
company with fornicators; and M .*.., 
is a fornicator and a member of your 
lodge. Haven't you secret understand- 
ings with those men — secret handshake, 
secret signs, etc.? And he answered, yes. 
I then said, the Bible says the sacrifices 
of the wicked are an abomination to the 
Lord. 

Last October I was at the funeral of 
.... and after the minister got through 
a young man stood at the head of the 
coffin and prayed with his eyes wide open. 
I asked my brother-in-law afterwards if 
the young man was a Christian, and he 
said, No. That man committed abomina- 
tion right there over that corpse. He as- 
sented, and I went on to say, if that 
thing Odd-Fellows wear around their 
neck isn't a yoke, what is it? He said 
it was a yoke. I said, "Be ye not un- 
equally yoked together with unbelievers." 
That is as much of the conversation as I 
remember. 

I then began to tell about being healed 
in answer to prayer. I was about to 
leave the room when the brother in the 
church said, "Let us pray." The three of 
us kneeled and each prayed in turn. 
When we arose the pin was gone. The 
minister promised never to put it back on 
again. The Lord gave me a wonderful 
blessing and it ran quickly at church that 
night and the sanctified brother said to 
me, "There's a shine on your face to- 
night." The Word of God is quick and 
powerful and sharper than any two- 
edged sword and I soon felt I had per- 
formed a surgical operation but I had to 
go through the fire with our minister. 
The Devil flayed me for months until I 
didn't know part of the time whether 1 
ever had been a Christian or not. The 
minister's countenance soon looked better 



August, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



103 



and he received a new enduement of the 
Spirit. There is not the slightest reserve 
between us, only love. The experience 
led to a subsequent blessing to me and I 
am ready for the fray again. 

A Friend and Co-work ik. 
Illinois. 



WARNS KLU KLUX KLAN. 



Announcement of Formation of New Body 
Brings Statement From Sheriff. 



"I see by the morning papers that 
an effort is going to be made to organ- 
ize the Klu Klux Klan body in this 
city," said Sheriff Larry Duggan this 
morning. "That information I gather 
from an advertisement stating that '100 
per cent Americans are wanted ; none 
others need apply. Knights of the Klu 
Klux Klan ; address P. O. box 90, Butte, 
Mont.' 

"I just want you to say," continued 
the sheriff, "that this city is enjoying 
peace and quietness just now and I in- 
tend that this condition is going to con- 
tinue as long as I am sheriff. We are 
going to preserve order in this com- 
munity at all hazards, irrespective of any 
body of men, or any clique of men, no 
matter who they are. As I understand 
the Klu Klux Klan crowd, they are a 
body of men who take law enforcement 
out of the hands of the authorities and 
enforce law according to their own no- 
tions. 

"Not while Larry Duggan is sheriff 
will anything like that be attempted in 
Silver Bow county. If any trouble is 
started the party starting it will find 
every man at the sheriff's command dead 
on the ground, or those responsible 
will be shot down like so many wolves. 
I just want this statement made in the 
papers so that those interested may take 
fair warning. I am going to preserve 
order in Silver Bow county and no one 
else, let that be understood." 
—The Butte Daily Post, July 16, 192 1. 



If all the "memory" and "will" and 
"personality" fads that are advertised 
can really work their promised miracles, 
the common everyday man will soon be 
the singular genius. 



CEREMONY OF BAPTISM 
in the 
ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED SCOT- 
TISH RITE. 

The following ceremony, called Masonic 
Baptism, is frequently performed in Europe 
and has recently been generally adopted in 
the United States. Palm Sunday has been 
designated as the day to be observed here- 
after for this service in San Jose, Cal. 

W. M. : Brethren and sisters, you 
have brought these young children to re- 
ceive at our hands Masonic Baptism. We 
are prepared to accept the duties which 
the administration of that rite will impose 
upon us. This Lodge is always proud 
and happy thus to receive under its pro- 
tection the children of the brethren. 
Each of us with joy accepts the new 
obligations created by such reception, for 
in the performance of duty the true 
Mason finds the only real happiness. 
Are you, on your part, prepared to re- 
new, those of you who are brethren, your 
obligations to the order, to the Lodge, 
and to the children of your brethren of 
the Mystic Tie; and those of you whom 
we hail with a new and exquisite pleasure 
as our sisters, to promise to spare no 
exertion in making these children such 
as every true-hearted mother desires her 
children to be? And do you accept us 
individually, and this Lodge, as your 
seconds and assistants in this holy work ? 

One of the fathers, answering for all. makes 
such response as he deems appropriate ; or he 
may use the following at his option : 

Father: Worshipful Master, the 
fathers and mothers of these children 
ask me to say, in their names, that it is 
because they so profoundly feel the im- 
mense responsibility which God has im- 
posed upon them in intrusting to them 
the, education of these voting immortals, 
and because of their intense desire well 
and faith full}- to perform that duty, that 
they have been willing to place them 
under the protection of this Lodge, in the 
hope of insuring to them that purity of 
heart, and stainlessness o\ soul, which are 
symbolized by Masonic Baptism. Well, 
indeed, do these trembling, agitated 
mothers, and these anxious father-, know- 
how numerous and how dangerous are 
the snares and pitfalls which youth must 
encounter in the intricate path- of life. 

They know that very shortly some o\ 
these little ones may be left fatherless 
and motherless, helpless as young birds 



104 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



August, 1921. 



with broken wings that trail upon the 
earth : and they feel that they can pass 
away more contentedly if they know that 
over their orphans will be extended the 
care and affection of this Lodge, to ward 
off destitution and the enemies that will 
be eager to assail their innocence and 
virtue. 

These fathers are prepared gladly to 
renew their obligations. What occasion 
more appropriate than this, upon which 
you are faithfully fulfilling yours? 

These mothers gladly, most gladly, and 
gratefully accept for their children your 
proffered protection, and pray you to 
appreciate a thankfulness in them for 
which words have no adequate ex- 
pression. 

When the father concludes, the master says : 

W. M.: Brother Master of Cere- 
monies, conduct these children and their 
parents to the places provided for them. 

The Master of Ceremonies conducts the 
procession to the platform in the rear of the 
altar. The other children are seated in front, 
the fathers and mothers in the rear, and the 
brethren who bear the infants hand them to 
their mothers, who place them, still upon the 
cushions, on their knees. The Brother who 
bore the candlestick sets it on the south of 
the altar, and he and the other brethren who 
formed part of the procession, find seats 
among the other brethren. The Master gives 
one rap, and all the brethren are seated. 

W. M. : We have been early taught 
in Masonry that, before engaging in any 
important undertaking, we ought to im- 
plore the assistance of Deity. Let us do* 
so, my brethren, with humility and trust- 
fulness. 

Prayer. 

O Eternal God, and merciful and lov- 
ing Father, enable us to perform the 
duties which we now propose to take 
upon us in regard to these children. May 
we be enabled to help their parents to 
lead them in the way they should go, 
and to persuade them to return to it if 
they err or stray therefrom. Help us to 
teach them their duties to themselves, to 
others, to their country and to thee. 
Help their parents to train them up in 
virtue, truth, and honor, obedient to thy 
laws, generous, forgiving, and tolerant. 
Let thy fatherly hand, we beseech thee, 
be ever over them. Give them the spirit 
of wisdom and understanding, of knowl- 
edge and of true and virtuous upright- 
ness, that they may continually serve, 
honor, and obey thee, their heavenly 



Father ; and may this ancient ceremony 
which we are now about to perform, be 
indeed the symbol to them of purity of 
heart, of innocence, and of blameless life. 
Let them grow up as young plants, and 
with their age and stature increase in 
wisdom and virtue and in favor with thy- 
self, and with all whose excellence makes 
their good opinion of any worth. Pre- 
serve among them and among us, peace, 
friendship, and tenderness ; and may we 
all, being steadfast in Faith, joyful 
through Hope, and rooted in Charity, so 
pass the waves of this troublesome world, 
that finally we may come to the land of 
everlasting life, there to advance ever 
nearer to thee, world without end. 
Amen ! 

All: So mote it be. 

The brethren, having knelt during the 
prayer, now rise, and the following hymn is 
sung: 

Rejoice, rejoice, fond mothers, 
That ye have given birth 
To these immortal beings, 
These children dear of earth. 

Oh ! fond and anxious mothers, 

Look up with joyful eyes, 

For a boundless wealth of love and 

power 
In each young spirit lies. 

Bless God both night and morning, 
Each with a joyful heart, 
For the child of mortal parent hath 
With the Eternal part. 

The stars shall lose their brightness, 
And like a parched scroll 
The earth shall fade ; but ne'er shall fade 
The undying human soul. 

Oh then rejoice, fond mothers, 
That ye have given birth 
To these immortal beings, 
These children fair of earth. 



W. M. : Who offer to take upon 
themselves the offices of godfathers and 
godmothers of these children? Let those 
who do so approach, and be seated near 
them. 

Those previously selected to act as such 
rise, repair to the platform and are seated by 
the Master of Ceremonies in the rear of the 
parents. Then the Master says : 

W. M. : Brethren and sisters, by ac- 



August, 1921 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



105 



cepting the offices of godfathers and god- 
mothers of these children, you consent to 
become the special instruments through 
which the Lodge shall watch over and 
protect them, — its eyes to see, and its 
ears to hear, all dangers and hazards, all 
trials and temptations that may approach, 
and menace to entice them ; its voice to 
warn them, to encourage them, to cheer 
them, and persuade them, and its hand- 
to repel and ward off from them all harm 
and all evil influences. Informed that 
such shall be your offices and your duty, 
do you still consent to assume, and 
promise to perform them? 
A Godfather: We do. 
W. M.: It is well. Remember that to 
their parents and yourselves will, in great 
measure, be committed the destiny of 
these young immortals, and that you must 
answer to our heavenly Father for the 
fidelity with which you fulfill the duties 
that you now voluntarily assume. 

Fathers and mothers, we do not pre- 
sume to instruct you in regard to your 
duties to your children.' Of those duties, 
however negligently they may perform 
them, no father or mother of ordinary 
intelligence is ignorant. In the Lodge we 
remind each other of our duties, not be- 
cause we do not know what the}- are, but 
that we may incite each other to perform 
them and to overcome the obstacles to 
faithful and punctual performance inter- 
posed by our indolence, our frailties, our 
passions and the enthrallments of busi- 
ness, pleasure or ambition. 

Be not offended, therefore, if we de- 
tain you for a few moments while we 
enumerate some of those duties for the 
purpose of enabling you to see what we 
understand in what manner we are to 
assist you if you continue to live, and in 
what manner to endeavor to fill your 
places if you should be taken away from 
these children before they attain such age 
as no longer to need our counsel and pro- 
tection. 

Orator: Teach your sons and daugh- 
ters that one may be clothed in rags, may 
be occupied in the lowest business, may 
make no show, be scarcely known to ex- 
ist, and yet may be more truly great than 
those who are more commonly so called : 
for greatness consists in force of soul, 
that is, in force of thought, of moral 



principle and love, and this may be found 
in the humblest condition. For the great- 
est man or woman is that one who 
chooses right with the most invincible 
resolution, who resists the sorest tempta- 
tions from within and without, who bear- 
the heaviest burdens cheerfully, who is 
calmest in storms and most fearless un- 
der menaces and frowns, whose reliance 
on truth, virtue and God is most un- 
faltering. 

* ■'.- * * :'{ 

J. \V. : Teach them. first of all. t<> 
love, honor and obey their parents, tor 
that not to do so is ungrateful, unnatural 
and hateful. Teach them to respect those 
older than themselves and to listen pa- 
tiently to their counsel, and even to their 
reproofs, because if they are just they 
ought to profit by them, and if they arc- 
unjust they ought to be too glad, knowing 
them so, to be angry. 

* * * * * 

S. W. : That the love which we bear 
to the country that gave us birth is not 
unreasoning nor absurd, but is an instinct 
of our nature, implanted by God in man- 
kind for the preservation and prosperity 
of nations; that it is not artificial nor 
fictitious, but as natural and genuine as 
the love of a child for its mother ; that 
indeed, our country is our mother : and 
when her honor and interests require it. 
she may justly call on us to peril fortune 
and life in her service; that patriotism is 
with reason accounted the most illus- 
trious of virtues and the patriot the most 
eminent of men : and with equal reason 
the traitor has in all ages been deemed 
execrable. 

* * :;: :;; * 

W. M. : The child, owing to the great 
Architect of the L T niverse it- existence, 
its senses that make it to enjoy, its intel- 
lect that enables it to acquire knowledge. 
surrounded everywhere by his blessing- 
ought to be taught in it-> earliest years to 
revere and love Him. and the author oi 
all the goodness, affection, generosity and 
loving-kindness that display themselves 
in his creatures. Teach it that it is in 
loving tho>e qualities in others, it loves 
God; and that, loving Mini, it should 
try to di^ that only of which He will ap- 
prove. It is his love tor it that is re- 
flected in the bosom ^i it > mother. It i- 
his affection for it. his pit}' when it suf- 



106 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



August, 1921. 



fers. that speak in the eves of its play- 
mates. 

Prayer. 

Almighty and Incomprehensible Intelli- 
gence, of the perfection of whose nature 
and the plenitude of whose love and ten- 
derness we in vain endeavor to conceive 
by the ideal which each fashions for him- 
self of the Absolutely Perfect, the Abso- 
lute Good, the Absolute and Perfect Mer- 
cy. Pity and Love, and whose unimagin- 
able and immeasurable perfections in that 
infinitely lower Ideal we devoutly wor- 
ship and love, enable us to read, though 
imperfectly, yet not wrongly, and in a 
mistaken sense contrary to thy truth, the 
lessons of duty which thou hast written 
in thy magnificent hieroglyphics, expres- 
sions of thy will, thy thought and thy 
affections, on the great pages of the won- 
drous book of the universe ; to these chil- 
dren, to our own and to all whom the 
law., of duty has place, or may in any 
wise place under our charge, give to all 
of us who are here present resolution to 
fulfill all the duties which by thy law and 
character and relation create and impose 
upon us. Amen ! 

All: So mote it be. 

(To be continued.) 



RITUAL BROTHERHOOD OF RAIL- 
WAY CLERKS. 

In use of gavel and for other purposes, * 
indicates one rap ; ** two raps ; *** three raps 

and so on. indicates a pause. Thus 

* ** indicates a rap, a pause, then two 

raps; ** ** two raps, a pause and two 

raps and so on. 

Sections or paragraphs marked "!" may be 
omitted at the option of the lodge. 

President : * We will now proceed to 
the regular business of the lodge. Mem- 
bers will please pay attention. 
Order of Business. 

i. Calling roll of officers (Secretary 
calls the roll, the Sergeant-at-Arms an- 
swers). 2. Reading minutes of last meet- 
ing and action thereon. 3. Report of 
Financial Secretary. 4. Report of Treas- 
urer. 5. Propositions for membership. 
6. Appointment of investigating commit- 
tees. 7. Report of investigating commit- 
tees. 8. Balloting on candidates. 9. 
Initiation of candidates. 10. Communi- 
cations and bills. 11. Reports of stand- 
ing committees. 12. Reports of special 
committees. 13. Election of officers. 14 



Installation of officers. 15. New busi- 
ness. Is there any new business? 16. 
Application for withdrawal of transfer 
cards. 17. Receiving deposit of with- 
drawal and transfer cards. 18. Reports 
of suspension. 19. Good of the Brother- 
hood. Have the members anything to say- 
under this head? 20. Is any member out 
of employment? 21. Does any member 
know of a vacancy which might be filled 
by a member? 22. Does any one know 
of a member who is sick or in distress? 
23. Receipts and disbursements for the 
evening. 

Closing Ceremonies. 

President: Members, we are about to 
close this lodge. Does any one know of 
anything which has been left undone that 
cannot be reasonably deferred until our 
next regular meeting? 

(Short pause to give members an oppor- 
tunity to bring up any matter that may have 
been overlooked, after which the President 
continues.) 

President : The Chaplain will now in- 
voke the Divine Blessing. * * * 

Chaplain : Our Father, Who art in 
Heaven, after we depart from this room, 
having done our full duty and carried 
out our vows according to our promise., 
by thy grace cause us to remember our 
obligation and refrain from discussing 
any transactions which have taken place 
in this meeting with or in the presence of 
anyone except those whom we know to 
be members of this Brotherhood in good 
standing. Amen. 

All Answer : So let it be. 

President : Sergeant-at-Arms will now 
collect the rituals, regalias, and report. 

Sergeant-at-Arms : Worthy President, 
your order has been obeyed. 

President : Members, before we leave, 
let us all remember our obligation. There 
being no objections, I now declare this 
lodge closed until our next meeting (date 
— day of week and month). 
Initiation. 

President: Brother (or Sister) Ser- 
geant-at-Arms, retire to the, ante-room 
and ascertain if there are any candidates 
in waiting. 

(The Sergeant-at-Arms retires, obtains the 
names of candidates if any are in waiting, re- 
turns to the lodge room and stands directly 



August, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



107 



behind the altar facing the President, who 
asks) : 

President: Brother (or Sister) Ser- 
geant-at-Arms, did you find any candi- 
dates awaiting initiation? If so, what are 
their names? 

Sergeant-at-Arms : Worthy President, 
(give names in full) are in the ante-room 
awaiting your pleasure. 

(Sergeant-at-Arms resumes his sta- 
tion.) 

President: Brother (or Sister) Secre- 
tary, you will proceed to the ante-room 
and ask the necessary questions, making 
a record of the answers. Brother (or 
Sister) Financial Secretary, you will ac- 
company the Secretary and collect the re- 
quired fees and dues from such as have 
not already paid them. 

(Secretary and Financial Secretary retire 
and carry out the President's instructions, after 
which they will return to the lodge room and 
their stations, when the President will in- 
quire) : 

President: Brother (or Sister) Finan- 
cial secretary, has the candidate (or have 
the candidates) paid the required fees 
and dues? 

Financial Secretary: Worthy Presi- 
dent (He or she has, or they have). 

President: Brother (or Sister) Secre- 
tary (Has this candidate or have these 
candidates) been duly proposed and elect- 
ed and otherwise qualified for initiation 
by making proper answers to*all ques- 
tions ? 

Secretary: Worthy President (He or 
she has, or they have). 

President: Brother (or Sister) Ser- 
geant-at-Arms, you will select your as- 
sistants, retire and prepare (the candidate 
or candidates) for initiation. 

(Sergeant-at # -Arms selects one assistant for 
each candidate* retires with them, prepares the 
candidates and advances to the inner door, 
giving thereon * — **, which will be answered 
in the same manner by the Inner Guard, who 
will then open the door, admitting the Ser- 
geant-at-Arms with candidates. Sergeant-at- 
Arms will march candidates at least once 
around the lodge room, halting them at the 
altar, facing the President, and say) : 

Sergeant-at-Arms : Worthy President, 
I present to you (names them) who de- 
sire and are awaiting initiation into our 
noble Brotherhood. 



President: (Friend or Friend-;, as you 
are about to enter upon new duties, form 
new ties and assume other obligation-. 
and as no one should endeavor to do 
these things without first asking for 
Divine help, the Sergeant-at-Arms will 
place you in proper position, and the 
Chaplain will implore the Almighty Ruler 
of the universe to give you strength to 
keep sacred and inviolate the obligations 
of the Brotherhood. 

(The Sergeant-at-Arms then places candi- 
dates in position to receive the obligation by 
putting their own right hands over their hearts 
and says) : 

Sergeant-at-Arms: Worthy President, 
the (candidate is or candidates are) in 
proper position. 

President : * * * 

(Chaplain leaves station, advances to front 
of altar facing the candidates, and prays.) 

Chaplain : As we encounter the mys- 
teries of life, not knowing from whence 
we came or whither we are going or what 
experiences are before us, it is most fit- 
ting that we first of all ask for the guid- 
ance and protection of Him who knoweth 
all things, seeth all things and directs the 
steps of those who put their trust in Him. 
We therefore at this time implore Divine 
blessing upon the exercises of this hour 
and earnestly pray that (this candidate or 
these candidates) may be fully impressed 
with the importance of the step (he or 
she is, or they are) about to take. May 
(he, she or they) fully realize the power 
for good that may be exercised by the 
united effort of those who are banded to- 
gether by the bonds of fraternal love and 
the ties of brotherhood ; that (he. she or 
they) may here and now, in the presence 
of God, and of^(his. her or their) fellow 
members fully determine that henceforth 
(he, she or they) will become (a faithful 
member or faithful members), ever per- 
forming the duties that shall devolve upon 
(him, her or them) and thus aid in 
achieving for our united Brotherhood 
those things for which we are striving. 
Amen. 

All Answer : So let it be. 

(President leaves his station, advances to 

altar and administers obligation. The Ser- 
geant-at-Arms, as well ;in candidates, will re- 
peat the obligation. ) 



108 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



August, 1921. 



President : You will now repeat after 
jne the following obligation, each of you 
pronouncing your name where I use 
mine : 

Obligation. 

I. , of my own free will, in the 

presence of Almighty God and this as- 
sembly, do solemnly promise and declare 
that I will keep sacred and inviolate the 
secrets of this Brotherhood and will not 
repeat outside of the lodge room any 
transaction whatsoever which may have 
taken place therein to anyone other than 
those whom I know to be members in 
good standing. 

I will obey the Constitution and Laws 
of this Organization and all orders 
emanating from its proper offices when in 
conformity therewith; I will not know- 
ingly wrong or defame a member myself 
or allow it to be done by others, if in my 
power to prevent it. 

I will assist a member at all times 
insofar as my means or ability will per- 
mit and will guard a member's interest as 
my own. 

I will employ or assist a member of 
this Brotherhood to secure employment 
in preference to a non-member. 

I further declare that should I from 
any cause leave this order, my obligation 
shall remain binding and in full force. 

To all this I promise and declare that 
I will keep and perform the same to the 
best of my ability, so help me God, and 
may He keep me steadfast. 

Answered by All: We have all wit- 
nessed your solemn obligation. 

President : It is well. I now extend 
to you my right hand in token of broth- 
erly love, and with it you will receive the 
grip, the words accompanying it (2). 

(President now takes a bundle of sticks and 
continues) : 

. You see this bundle of sticks, bound 
together as they are, it is impossible for 
you to either bend or break them. With- 
draw one ; behold how easily it bends and 
how easily it may be broken. Here we 
learn the lesson in unity which proves 
that in unity there is strength, and so it 
is with you. Alone, you will be com- 
pelled to yield and break, but, bound by 
the cores of Brotherhood, Rectitude and 
Conservatism, a giant's strength would be 
expended in vain. Therefore, as no chain 



is stronger than its weakest link, see to it 
that you are not a defective link in our 
fraternal chain, so that if the time should 
ever come, the chain of mutual interest 
which binds us together may never be 
broken. Strive to attend the meetings of 
your lodge regularly and thus prove your 
interest, and by close attention to its 
workings you will at all times be able to 
prove (yourself a worthy member, or 
yourselves worthy members) of this great 
Brotherhood. The Sergeant-at-Arms will 
now escort you to the President's station 
where, in order that you may be thor- 
oughly conversant with it, I will instruct 
you in our secret work. * 

(President returns to station and Sergeant- 
at-Arms conducts candidates once around 
lodge room, halting them in front of and 
facing the President, who proceeds) : 

To enter a lodge room, while the lodge 
is in session, you will give any alarm at 
the outer door that will attract the atten- 
tion of the Outer Guard, and to that 
officer you will give the term password,, 
which password can only be procured by 
you from the President, no other person* 
being authorized to give it, and then only 
while you are in good standing in your 
lodge. For the present term this word 1 

is This will admit you to the' 

outer room. You will then signal at the: 
inner door with * — ** which will be an- 
swered in the same manner by the Inner 
Guard, who will raise the wicket, and! 
through it you will then give the annual 
password of the Brotherhood. This 
word is .... 

You will then be admitted to the lodge 
room, where you will advance to the cen- 
ter in front of the altar facing the Vice- 
President's station and give the salutation 
sign, which is .... (4). 

You will be answered by- the counter- 
sign, which is .... (5). 

You will then take your seat. 

The sign of recognition is made in this 
manner .... (6). 

The answer being made with the right 
hand thus .... (7). 

Should you have occasion to warn a 
member of impending danger, we have a 
warning sign, which is given . . . . , the 

answer being Or, in case you 

should be in a position where this cannot 
be used or seen, you may use warning 



August, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN' CYNOSURE 



109 



sign Xo. 2, which is . . . . ; the answer is 
.... (8). 

The distress sign is made as follows 
.... ( 9 ). 

The sign is used to obtain assistance 
when in distress. Should the circum- 
stances be such that the sign cannot be 
seen or used you will use the words of 
distress .... (io). 

Members of this Brotherhood seeing 
this sign, or hearing the words, should 
go to the relief of the one so giving them 
and render all the aid and assistance in 
their power. 

In service communications we have a 
method of revealing ourselves to a mem- 
ber of this Brotherhood, and when you 
see this sign you will recognize the writer 
as a fellow member and govern yourself 
accordingly. 

The sign is made thus .... ( 1 1 ) . 
The voting sign, which is used for both 
an affirmative and negative vote, is made 
thus .... (12). 

The gavel in the hands of the President 
is used to govern the movements of this 
lodge. * Calls to order or seats the lodge 
if standing. *"* Calls up the officers and 
** :;: calls up the whole lodge. 

This ends your instructions. May your 
membership with us be for our mutual 
benefit, and may we never have cause to 
regret the confidence which we have re- 
posed in you. You will now face about 
and as your name is called take two steps 
to the front so the members may recog- 
nize you and know you by name. 

President : Members of .... Lodge. 
Xo , I take great pleasure in intro- 
ducing to you (brother or sister, names 
them) who is now entitled to share in all 
the benefits and privileges of our noble 
Brotherhood. 

I now declare a short recess, during 
which time you will step to the Secre- 
tary's desk where you will sign the mem- 
bership roll. 

(To be continued.) 



A TRIBUTE TO ELDER D. L. MILLER. 

In the death of Rider D. L. Miller of 
the Church of the Brethren, every good 
cause has lost a friend. He was a large- 
hearted generou- soul of unusual ability. 
A great leader, in a great church. ( )ver 
thirty years ago he secured a hall and 
arranged for the writer to speak in his 
home town, Mt. Morris, Illinois. Meet- 
ing in Chicago later he remarked "When 
you come to Mt. Morris my home is 
yours.'' It was. 

His life work was largely for the 
Church of his choice. His great busi- 
ness ability manifested as publisher, 
superintendent of Missions, College 
Trustee, President, etc.. etc., was given 
to the church. His missionary travels 
were extensive. In his tribute, Elder H. 
C. Early wrote of him "He has visited 
every continent, many isles of the sea, 
and has sailed every sea in the world." 
The books of which he is author have 
had wide sale — over seventy thousand 
copies being in circulation. Together 
with Elder Joseph Amick, a former N. 
C. A. supporter, and director, he bought 
the Brethren Publishing House, and put 
it on a sound financial basis. For a time 
he was editor of the church paper "The 
Gospel Messenger." He was frequently 
chosen to preside at annual meetings of 
the Church. In the matter of esteem by 
his brethren he stood second to none. He 
occasionally spoke in a very decided 
fashion against the lodges. It goes with- 
out saying that such a broad-minded soul 
could have no sympathy with lodge con- 
tractiveness. His indeed was a blessed 
life. May God continue to bless what 
he has so wisely begun for his fellow 
man. In affectionate regard. 

W. B. Stoddard. 



Jabez says : If I wanted my boy to go 
to hell, I'd give him a big allowance with 
no work; and if I wanted my daughter 
to go there, I'd encourage her to sing 
jazz and dance shimmy. 



IT'S BUNK, BOYS. 

"Masonry throughout the world." says 
Past Grand Master Hanan of Indiana, 
'"is standing today as it has 
throughout the countless ages of the past 
for the trinity principles that have ever 
been dominant attitudes of our order — 
the Fatherhood of God, the Brotherhood 
of Man. and the Immortality of the 
Soul." 

All the grandiloquent orators and 
writers in Masonry pull that "brother- 
hood" stuff. Haven't you noticed it? 



r 



no 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



August, 1921. 



But we'll have to 'fess up and be honest 
about it. boys, that until the thousands 
of men who left their arms and legs in 
France for "freedom" are included in 
the so-called human race, the aspirations 
of Masonry to bring about the "universal 
brotherhood of man" is the purest bunk, 
and wholly unworthy of the intelligent 
men who wear the square and compass. 

Masonry derides "superstition, ignor- 
ance, intolerance," but if there is any 
practice it condemns on these grounds 
which is less intelligent than "preserving 
the ancient landmarks" by barring a man 
who has given an arm for his country. 
we don't know what it is. 

He must be a bright Mason who be- 
lieves that the old-timer who made 
"physical qualification" a landmark was 
"infallible." — The Kablcgram, Tune, 
1921. 



ORDER OF THE BUILDERS FOR 
BOYS. 

The Order of De Molay is under the 
direction of the Scottish Rite. Another 
new order for boys has been started 
which is sponsored and controlled by 
Master Masons, which includes all 
branches of the craft. It is called the 
Order of the Builders for Boys. 

The Builders is not only for the sons 
of Master Masons, but each such son is 
privileged to recommend for membership 
one of his closest boyhood companions. 
The dues are S2.00 per year and the mini- 
mum fee for conferring the degrees in a 
Chapter is S3. 00. and never over S5.00. 

Chapters may be organized, upon au- 
thorization of 'the Central Council, by 
any body of Masons anywhere, provided 
that suitable meeting places are provided 
for and that the membership shall not 
be less than twenty boys between the 
ages of 14 and 21 and shall maintain an 
active Advisory Council of not less than 
five Master M'asons. At least three of 
the Advisory Council shall be present be- 
fore any routine business may be trans- 
acted. 

While the Order of De Molay orig- 
inated in Kansas City, Mo., and has 
spread in the South and West, the Build- 
ers started in Chicago and is growing 
nicely.— The Kablcgram, June, 192 1. 



THE LODGE A COUNTERFEIT. 

BY H. C. CASSEL, PHILADELPHIA, PA. 

A paper read at General Conference, Day- 
ton, Ohio, August, 1913, and published by or- 
der of Conference, Progressive Brethren. 
(Continued from July issue.) 

To our preachers, especially our young 
preachers, I would say, "Put ye on the 
whole armor of God and stand"; espe- 
cially put ye on the girdle of truth. Be 
real honest with your own soul and watch 
diligently for the souls of others, espe- 
cially those under your care, who have in 
a sense put their souls into your keeping, 
in that they listen to your teaching; and 
God, according to Ezekiel 33, will require 
them at your hands because ye are ac- 
counted watchmen on the walls of Zion. 
Therefore, be brave in warning them 
against the apostasy, that they perish not. 

Brother L. S. Bauman has leveled his 
gun against the enemy of the cross, and 
the true church, and because of his faith- 
fulness in warning the people without 
fear or favor, many have been set free 
from the fetters of idolatry, and are tes- 
tifying and praising the Lord that their 
eyes have been opened. 

It seems that Freemasonry, as an or- 
ganization, is trying to see how much 
contempt they can pour on the teachings 
of the Lord Jesus Christ, by teachng and 
practicing just the opposite of what He 
taught and commanded. Jesus said, 
''Swear not at all." .Freemasonry, in 
spite of the Lord's command, swears 
until the sky is dark with smoke from the 
pit and smells of brimstone. 

In the first three degrees, the candi- 
date takes seventeen oaths in which he 
swears to have his entire body mutilated 
if he fails to keep his oath and obliga- 
tions. A Christian has no right to do 
that. Jesus says, "We are bought with a 
price, and are not our own.'' Jesus says, 
"Be ye not called Rabbi." Freemasonry 
has almost exhausted the dictionary to 
invent blasphemous and presumptuous 
titles. It is simply appalling. There is 
scarcely a title or an attribute pertaining 
to the Majesty and Sovereignty of Je- 
hovah that it does not appropriate to 
itself, or its officers, beginning with 
"Worshipful Master" and advancing to 
the title of "All Puissant Sovereign 
Grand Master." What is there left for 
Deity? Jesus says, "I ever spake open- 



August, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



111 



ly." Masonry says, "Don't you dare to 
speak, write, print, paint, cut, carve, 
stamp, stain, mark or engrave anything 
about the lodge, nor allow the same to be 
done, if in your power to prevent it, 
upon anything movable or immovable 
under the whole canopy of Heaven," 
etc. 

Jesus says, "He that doeth truth 
cometh to the light." Masonry works in 
the dark behind guarded doors. Jesus 
says, "I am the way." Masonry says, "I 
am the way." Jesus says, "Be ye not 
unequally yoked together with unbeliev- 
ers." Masonry yokes professed Chris- 
tians and infidels together. Jesus says, 
"Love your enemies, and pray for them." 
Masonry swears to take vengeance. Jesus 
says, "I am meek and lowly in heart." 
Masonry is proud and boastful. Its titles 
are blasphemous, its worship sacrilegious, 
its professions deceptive, its spirit dic- 
tatorial in church and state. Masons 
are not free. 

The effect of the lodge system on the 
individual life has been most disastrous 
in many cases for body and soul. Their 
social functions are ungodly and alto- 
gether of the world. They indulge in 
dancing, card playing and, in many 
places, in drinking and revelings. They 
are a menace to civil righteousness, be- 
cause they are clannish. Let us remem- 
ber that God out of Christ is a consuming 
fire. 

A Concluding Word of Advice. 

In conclusion let me say that, with love 
toward all men and malice toward none, 
I have tried to point out the difference 
between the Christian church and the 
secret empire according to their own 
authors and rituals as published in their 
standard works of authority. I have 
tried to deal with the fundamental prin- 
ciple of secret societies and not with the 
individual members that compose them. 
There are excellent men that for one rea- 
son and another have joined the lodge 
evidently without careful investigation, 
perhaps they were misled by the lodge 
lie, which is, that no one can know any- 
thing about the lodge that has not been 
in it. Lodge men dare not admit that 
the secrets have been revealed even 
though they profess to be Christians. 
But I would advise any one that contem- 
plates joining a lodge that he write first 



to the office of the National Christian 
Association, 850 West Madison Street, 
Chicago, where abundant information 
may be obtained on all phases of the 
lodge system, and much money saved 
and liberty maintained. Let us be hon- 
est with ourselves and investigate for 
ourselves. Lodgemen are sworn to se- 
crecy, hence can give you no information. 
And for that reason the lodge system is 
emphatically anti-Christ. It cannot be 
otherwise, for Jesus, who evidently fore- 
saw the perpetuation of idolatry' in the 
form of secret societies, unqualifiedly 
declares that "he ever spake openly, and 
in secret he said nothing." In another 
place he says, it is a shame to speak of 
those things that are done in secret. The 
man that joins a lodge deliberately breaks 
the law of God twice in the first obliga- 
tion. Jesus said, "It hath been said thou 
shalt not forswear thyself but I say unto 
you swear not at all." Lodge men do 
both. 



Motive has to come from within, not 
from without, if it is to be worth any- 
thing. — Selected. 



Let your mind be filled with Christ. 
Make not your sanctification the object of 
your contemplation, the theme of your 
meditation. Do you wish to ornament 
yourselves, and to come before God beau- 
tiful, or as a sinner? — Saphir. 



God knows the difference between the 
idle waiting of the desire to escape His 
will, and the honest waiting of a willing 
heart to have His will made plain, in or- 
der to do it. "Rest In the Lord and wait 
patiently for Him." — Psa. 37:7. — Se- 
lected. 



The father pitieth his children that are 
weak in knowledge, and instructs them: 
pities them when they are froward and 
hears witli them; pities them when they 
are sick and comforts them; when they 
are fallen, and helps them up again ; when 
they have offended, and upon their sub- 
mission forgives them; when they are 
wronged, and rights them. Thus "The 
Lord pitieth them that fear Him.'"- 
Matthezv Henry. 



112 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



August, 1921. 



-'illlllHIIIIIIIlMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIIilllHIlllllllltllllllllllllllllllllllllllllli: 



The Question of the Hour 



By E. E. FLAGG 

AUTHOR OF 

"Holden With Cords." 



riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiNiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiisiiiiiiiuiiiiigiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiihr 



L 



CHAPTER XIII. 

IX WHICH CERTAIN CHARACTERS IN THE 
STORY GET "MORE LIGHT." 

The union denied emphatically any 
knowledge of or sympathy with the dyna- 
mite plot, and there were plenty of un- 
thinking, good people who never stopped 
to consider that though this might be true 
of the brotherhood as a body, there could 
easily be a wheel within a wheel — a lodge 
of dynamiters inside of a seemingly in- 
nocent trades union, bound together by 
the same secret covenant to shield "im- 
prudent" members. 

The scheme of blowing up the works 
and then fastening the guilt on Nelson 
had been planned by Mr. Gerrish as a fine 
piece of double revenge ; first on manu- 
facturers who had failed to appreciate his 
office and titles as he deemed they de- 
served ; and secondly on the young work- 
man, who from first to last as a recog- 
nized leader of the better element among 
the operatives was regarded by him much 
as Hainan regarded Mordecai. The task 
of seeing it carried out by trusty under- 
lings into whom he had talked his own 
atheistic and communistic ideas he handed 
over to Reynolds, according to his usual 
plan of furnishing the brains, and letting 
some obsequious tool do the labor. He 
had not counted on the egregious failure 
of both schemes, and when his subordi- 
nate held another secret conference with 
the chief, he found him in anything but 
an amiable mood. He stormed and swore 
at his unfortunate aid-de-camp, and told 
I im that "he had managed the job like a 
— ." The concluding noun and 
adjective we forbear to give, though real- 
ly very just and applicable to their sub- 
ject. Jt had the effect, however, of 
making Reynold's eye flash and his coun- 
tenance redden, as if there was some limit 
to his endurance. 

"That ain't hardly safe talk, let me tell 
you. to a man that could have you ar- 
rested by dropping a little hint to the 
police." 



Gerrish did not, as might have been ex- 
pected, break out into oaths and curses 
at this threat. He only smiled — that 
tigerish smile before which Reynolds, 
with all his superior bulk, shrank as it is 
said even lions will shrink before the 
hyena ; and with an almost imperceptible 
motion of his hand towards the glittering 
dirk concealed in his bosom, he hissed 
slowly between his teeth : 

"Remember the penalty of a traitor." 

The two glared at each other for a 
second, and then Reynolds said with an 
uneasy laugh : 

"Come, what is the use of all this? I 
think we had better attend to business." 

"So do I," was the laconic response of 
his chief. And the worthy pair who had 
quarreled before, and knew that in all 
probability they would again, made up 
after the fashion of their peculiar species 
— that is to say, they smoked a couple of 
cigars together and indulged in consider- 
able profanity while they discussed the 
general situation of affairs. There was 



no ignoring 



the fact that the strike was 



every day growing more unpopular, and 
as their power over the workmen must 
be in some way retained, they came to the 
united conclusion that to appear in the 
role of peacemakers, bound to have a 
pacific settlement of the difficulties, would 
be decidedly more for their interest than 
to keep up the agitation. But when the 
tiger is once unchained it is not always 
an easy matter to get him back into his 
den — a' fact on which Gerrish and Rey- 
nolds failed to count. 

Comparative quiet, however, had 
reigned since the discovery of the dyna- 
mite plot, owing to the refusal of the 
frightened "scabs," as the strikers called 
those who had taken their places, to go 
back to work until there had been a thor- 
ough examination of all the premises. 
But under the calm were strange elements 
of fierceness and fury. It was the omin- 
ous quiet that precedes the cyclone. 

Nelson was popular with the best cla::s 



August, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



113 



of the workmen. They greeted him with 
cheers as he came out of the court-room, 
and altogether he was considerably more 
of a hero after his unpleasant experience 
than he had been before. The sight of 
their honest faces, and the real joy which 
they showed at his release, touched him. 

"How I wish I could get all the work- 
men together and talk a little common- 
sense into them. I think I could/' he said 
to Martin Treworthy, who had accom- 
panied him to his lodgings for a little con- 
versation over the day's events. 

Martin only gave a low grunt, which, 
if it expressed anything, expressed skep- 
ticism. And Xelson so understood it, 
for he continued eagerly : 

"They are under bad leaders, and they 
don't know it. Even that faction among 
the workmen who have a grudge against 
me I do not feel like greatly blaming. 
They are so ignorant and they have real 
wrongs. These men who claim to repre- 
sent them and don't represent them no 
more than wolves represent a flock of 
sheep, hold them in a state of the most 
complete vassalage. This strike has 
opened my eyes to a good many things, 
and one is that some new form of or- 
ganization on a free, open democratic 
basis would be a great deal better for 
working men than these secret labor 
unions which afford such dangerous facil- 
ities of leadership for mere adventurers 
and deadbeats and blacklegs. I have been 
a fool, Mr. Treworthy. I dare say you 
enjoy the confession." 

"Mightily," chuckled Martin. "I knew 
you'd cut your wisdom teeth after a while. 
But we ain't through with trouble yet. 
They are going to try starting up the 
works again tomorrow. The men have 
got pretty much over their scare now and 
can't afford to loaf around, but as the 
strikers can't play the dynamite game 
over twice, a riot will most likely be the 
next thing in order. Last night I hap- 
pened to be going past when one of them 
Socialist fellows was holding forth, and I 
thought I would just turn to and listen 
a while. The chap stole a sight of his 
talk from Ingersoll and forgot to put in 
his quotation marks every time. And he 
could quote the Bible, too — told them it 
would only be 'spoiling the Egyptians' as 
the Israelites did. if they should raise to 
their foundations a few of the line houses 



of the rich and take all they could lav 
their hands on. The rabble he was talk- 
ing to cheered like mad when he said 
that. They were just primed for a riot." 

"A good part of the crowd that gather 
to hear such talk." >aid Nelson, "is -up- 
plied from a class outside of the work- 
men. The increasing number of no- 
license towns has brought into Jackson- 
ville more of the saloon element than 
ever before. There are always plenty of 
that kind of fish around where there is 
an>* labor disturbance. These Socialist 
chaps can swill down beer by the hogs- 
head, and bluster and rant ; but that i- 
about all they can do. Their bark is 
terrihe, but their bite is of small account. 
It is these liquor saloons, these under- 
ground doggeries at every street corner 
that are going to play the mischief. I 
believe that without their inspiration So- 
cialism, at least here in America, would 
be as harmless as a viper with its head 
cut off. But we've dethroned King Cot- 
ton and put up King Whisky, and the end 
will be — nobody knows what. Take for- 
eigners, now. like many of the workmen 
here in Jacksonville, ignorant of the first 
principle of free government, self-gov- 
ernment: take our rich capitalists, caring 
for nothing but to get rich faster : take 
these Socialist firebrands, and then add 
the liquor element, and we certainly have 
the material for riots, dynamite explo- 
sions or everything else of a lawless na- 
ture." 

And. as it happened. Nelson was just 
then, like all of us at times, more of a 
prophet than he thought. 

CHAPTER XIV. 

IX WHICH JACKSONVILLE REAPS THE 
WHIRLWIND. 

Matthew Densler, the chief proprietor 
of the works, had begun life himself as a 
common operative, had amassed his large 
fortune by a combination of shrewdness 
and diligence, and had also developed in 
hi- early struggles with adversity a tem- 
per as unbending as his own iron and 
steel. He had no unkindly feeling 
towards the class from which he had 
risen, but he made very little allowance 
for their peculiar weaknesses; in fact, he 
was rather inclined to look with a slight 
contempt on the laboring man who had 
imt 1 een able to iU-> as well as he had him- 
self. Trade unions he hated above everv- 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



August, 1921, 



thing else on the face of the earth, and all 
his stubborn powers of resistance were 
brought into play by the present crisis. 

He made a point of visiting the works 
himself in person and thus trying to in- 
fuse something of his own feeling into 
the new hands, who were in truth a rather 
cowed looking set. To have to be escorted 
back and forth from their work by po- 
licemen, and be subjected to a course of 
terrorizing and intimidation harder to 
bear than open violence, were not things 
especially inspiriting, and the majority 
heartily wished themselves back where 
they came from. 

The day passed quietly, but groups of 
strikers had been slowly gathering on the 
street, and when the non-unionists left off 
work at night, they had to pass through 
a gauntlet of foes, yelling, shouting all 
manner of derisive epithets, and armed 
with stones and clubs — a few with con- 
cealed knives. 

But at the very commencement of the 
melee, a tall figure in a workingman's 
garb stepped forth from one of those 
groups, and mounting on an empty barrel 
called out in a clear commanding voice, 
which for an instant silenced the rioters. 

''Fellow workmen, I want to speak to 
you." _ ! ■_ | | 

It was Nelson Newhall. 

His audacious movement had taken the 
mob completely by surprise. A man thor- 
oughly in earnest always possesses a 
strange magnetic power over others, and 
in that instant of astonished, startled 
silence, both the attacked and the attack- 
ing parties waited, curious to hear what 
would come next. 

'T want to talk to you for five minutes 
as one intelligent workingman may talk 
to another. Is it any worse for the capi- 
talist to oppress and ill-treat you than 
for you to oppress and ill-treat your 
brother workmen ? By what right do you 
forbid them to earn their daily bread? Is 
it the right of the strongest? That is the 
right the capitalist pleads. How long 
will you handle this two-edged sword? 
How long will you imagine that one 
wrong can right another ? That riots and 
strikes and unlawful violence will ever 
alter cause and effect or change your con- 
dition one iota except for the worse? 

"But now I want to talk to you about 
the chief cause of all this trouble. Run 



it right down to the roots. What causes 
strikes? Low wages. And what causes 
low wages? Dull times. And what causes 
dull times? I will tell you in a few. 
words. You pay away your money for 
beer and tobacco instead of bread. You 
go to the saloon, order a drink, and pay 
your dime over the counter. One dime 
paid over the counter of the two hundred 
and fifty thousand dramshops, licensed 
and unlicensed, in these United States 
amounts to twenty-five thousand dollars 
in one day. In a year it would amount 
to over a million and a half. This is only 
the price of one drink daily, remember. 
Multiply this by the actual number of 
drinks sold and the sum goes into the 
hundred millions. Supposing these hun- 
dred millions went to buy the things the 
world needs and wants, would anybody 
lack employment ? How quick every iron 
and cotton and woolen mill would start 
up all over the country. Now when times 
are dull there are always fools enough to 
say, Tt is all owing to over-production,' 
when the fact is there can't be too much 
to eat or to wear, or too much of any- 
thing, in short, which goes to make hu- 
man beings happier or more comfortable. 
It is all owing to under-consumption. 
People get along without things they 
want, or with less of them, because, to 
put it in plain words, these two hundred 
and fifty thousand dramshops have taken 
the money. I don't deny that in our land 
today there are men who have made big 
fortunes by grinding the faces of the 
poor." Cries of "That's so," greeted 
Nelson at this juncture, and a voice, 
thickened by heavy potations of beer or 
something stronger, shouted out savage- 
ly, "String the rascals up to the lamp- 
posts." The young workman was deal- 
ing with turbulent material, but he took 
no notice of these interruptions except to 
calmly continue. 

"While you are cursing capitalists, just 
remember that the liquor dealers and dis- 
tillers whom you support by your money 
and your votes are capitalists too, and the 
amount of their united capital is over one 
billion of dollars. Now this vast sum in- 
vested in honest manufactures would give 
work at good wages to every laboring 
man in the United States. These are 
hard facts, but you won't hear them from 
politicians dependent on the rum vote, 



August, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



115 



and you won't hear them from men who 
counsel murder and arson and pillage as 
a remedy for the wrongs of labor. Sup- 
pose the late plot to blow up the source 
of our daily bread here in Jacksonville 
had succeeded, would you have been bet- 
ter off today? The fact is, we working- 
men don't know where our real power 
lies. With one stamp of our feet we 
could put down this miserable dramshop 
business that has more to do with low 
wages and dull times than all other causes 
combined. By a system of intelligent 
co-operation we could make every 
monopolist shake in his shoes from Maine 
to California. By voting in our own in- 
terests instead of the interests of whisky 
politicians, we could make our hand felt 
where it needs to be felt — on the wheels 
of government. Instead of sending mil- 
lionaires to Congress, whose first thought 
will be when this or that measure comes 
up for consideration, 'How is it going to 
affect my stocks or my bonds?' we could 
send men from our own ranks whose first 
thought will be, 'How is it going to affect 
the working classes ?' Now the great iron 
and woolen interests are represented in 
Congress because they are backed up by 
the money power behind them, and labor, 
without which those interests would be 
valueless, ought to find fully as efficient 
a backer in its millions of votes — thrown 
away every election because one-half of 
you don't understand the intelligent use 
of the ballot and the other half are bound 
to sustain a party because some office- 
seeking demagogue tells you that the 
whole country will go to rack and ruin if 
you don't." 

Now this speech was not exactly "made 
on the spur of the moment." It had been 
thought out in his hours of respite from 
toil. It had been as a fire shut up in his 
bones through all the long weary days of 
the strike, and now that he had an oppor- 
tunity to let it forth, his burning, trench- 
ant sentences came like the rush of many 
waters. The electric fire with which his 
whole being was charged even passed to 
a few of the more sober and thoughtful 
part of his audience. They began to 
cheer. 

Nelson might have finished his speech 
in good order and had the satisfaction of 
quelling the incipient riot in its first 
stages, but two untoward things prevent- 



ed. For in the first place scattered 
through the crowd of workmen were 
numbers of that loose, floating class of 
whom he had spoken to Martin Tre- 
worthy, and who were not at all suited by 
any such tame ending of affairs. They 
had joined the mob for the fun of seeing 
a riot, and a riot they meant to have. And 
in the second place his scathing arraign- 
ment of the saloon as the chief source of 
their ills was not agreeable to those of 
the workmen who had imbibed the theo- 
ries of Socialistic speakers. They were 
accustomed to hearing all the blame laid 
on the shoulders of the manufacturer 
and preferred decidedly that solution of 
their difficulties. Such wild and law 
elements were not to be controlled, though 
they might receive a momentary check by 
the array of statistics and argument in 
the young workman's speech. To the 
majority of the rabble it had only been, 
to use the words of Jeremiah, "like a very 
lovely song of one that hath a pleasant 
voice and can play well on an instru- 
ment." The novelty over, the reckless, 
rioting spirit again began to manifest 
itself. 

"Come, dry up now. AYe've heard 
enough of your talk. You are the feller 
that's been standing up all along for these 
rich, lazy, lollypops of manufacturers. 
And that's what I think" — here followed 
an expression rather too emphatic for 
these pages, while a brickbat whizzed un- 
comfortably close to Nelson's head and 
struck against the walls of the building 
behind. him — "of you or any other work- 
ingman who will take the part of bloated 
aristocrats, and go agin his own flesh and 
blood." 

"That was a weighty but not a con- 
vincing argument." said Nelson coolly 
and sarcastically as he dodged the missile. 
"The friend who just interrupted me 
must take surer aim next time if he wants 
to shut my month. This wild, communis- 
tic talk may do for Europe, Inn God help 
us workingmen of America should we 
ever make assassination and dynamite 
the weapons of our warfare, for then 
hate will rise up to answer to hate, pas- 
sion to passion, and I warn you the con- 
test will he a wry unequal one. Bad 
leaders and bad liquor do the cause of 
labor more harm than all the 'bloated 
aristocrat-' in the land." 



116 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



August, 1921. 



"If the rich tins mought 'ev their wine, 
the poor uns mought 'ev their beer," 
shouted out a browny Cornish man, 
whose Vulcan-like strength was only to 
be surpassed by the ugliness of his tem- 
per when too full of his favorite dram. 
While another chimed in derisively : 

"I'll be bound old Densler keeps plenty 
of the real stuff in his cellar. Maybe 
we'll make a visit there tonight and find 
out." 

The mob laughed and shouted at this 
piece of bravado. 

Xelson opened his mouth to reply. A 
stone struck him squarely on the jaw. 
The spirit of riot had once more taken 
possession of the crowd, and there was 
only time for the heartsick feeling that 
he was indeed a prophet without honor to 
rush over him in a bitter wave, before the 
necessity of looking out for his own per- 
sonal safety became pressingly apparent. 
In vain the policemen used their clubs. 
Stones and brickbats flew promiscuously. 

Xelson was agile and quick in expedi- 
ents. He turned down an alley with half 
a dozen of the rioters at his heels, intent 
on giving him rough usage if they should 
succeed in getting their hands on him, 
then darted through an open doorway, 
the door kindly shutting to behind him 
and interposing a strong barricade of 
bolts and bars against his baffled pur- 
suers, who hung around it for awhile 
like enraged wasps, and then left him 
alone with his deliverer, who was no 
other than our old friend Pat Murphy. 
Ever since casting his vote for the W. C. 
T. U. Pat had stood fairly by his newly 
discovered principles, considering all the 
temptations to do otherwise which were 
in his way. It must be remarked, how- 
ever, that the women of the W. C. T. U. 
have a habit (inconvenient for liquor 
sellers and their political allies) of not 
abating a whit of their fervor and zeal 
when election day is over, and their lines 
of effort are wonderfully varied. Mrs. 
Judge Haviland herself had sent flowers 
and hot-house grapes to his daughter 
slowly dying of consumption, and baskets 
of warm clothing for the younger chil- 
dren ; and it cannot be denied that such 
ministrations in the saloon-cursed homes 
of Jacksonville had, to illogical minds like 
Pat's, a peculiarly - convincing power. 
Anyway he held "the temperance women" 



in high regard, and had they been veri- 
table canonized saints could not have 
spoken of them on all occasions with 
more reverential respect. 

Pat knew Nelson and liked him. 

"Och, Misther Newhall, but ye're safe 
now. Bad luck to the murtherin' vil- 
lains." 

"I wish I could see Mr. Densler," said 
Nelson, after he had duly thanked his 
rescuer. "I wonder if he has left his 
office yet." 

"The boss?" — and Pat grinned — "He 
come here about tin minutes ago in about 
as big a hurry as yerself. Ye'll foind 
him in that little room beyant, but och, 
he's cross as a bear with a sore head." 

Nelson started in very natural surprise 
to find that his retreat was shared by his 
employer, but the fact was Matthew 
Densler enjoyed the distinction of being 
the best-hated manufacturer in Jackson- 
ville. He had left his office by a back 
way, but when he saw the rioters had full 
possession of the street he would have to 
traverse in order to reach his home, he 
concluded that it would be more prudent 
to seek some place of safety and wait, 
either till the disturbance was over or a 
guard of policemen could be summoned 
to escort him. At present those officials 
had their hands full, and all that the dis- 
comforted manufacturer could do was. to 
watch the progress of affairs from the 
cobweb-curtained window of his retreat 
— a rough, unfinished room used for pur- 
poses of general storage. 

He was, as Pat had informed Nelson, 
in a decidedly bearish frame of mind, 
and gave only a surly nod to the latter, 
who now, that the excitement was over, 
felt both weary and heartsick. He had 
cast his pearls before swine. Was it 
strange that they should turn again and 
rend him? But the heart of the young 
workman throbbed too deeply in pity and 
sorrow for his misguided brethren to feel 
altogether sympathetic towards his irate 
employer. 

"The mob is threatening to sack your 
house, Mr. Densler," he said. "They 
would not attempt such a thing till night, 
of course, and they may not attempt it at 
all, but I think it would be wise to set a 
guard over it." 

Nelson received but small thanks for 
his information. 



August, 1921, 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



117 



"A pretty pass things have got to when 
an honest citizen has to seek the protec- 
tion of the civil authorities in his own 
home ! But they needn't think to frighten 
me into giving in. No ; not while my 
name is Matthew Densler." 

Nelson had spoken his mind to the 
riotous workmen. Here was an excel- 
lent chance, often longed for, to speak 
his mind to the other side. 

"Mr. Densler, I want to say a word." 

"Say on," was the gruff response. 

"Supposing you manufacturers all 
went by the Golden Rule, and treated 
your employes exactly as you would like 
to be treated yourself, do you think there 
would be all this strife and violence?" 

"Yes," was the furious response. 
"While they have their Grand Worthy 
Something or other, like that Gerrish — 
I can't remember all the fellow's titles — 
to come between and stir it up. Curse 
their confounded impudence ! The other 
manufacturers may give in. They'll find 
I am made of sterner stuff." 

"I think myself," said Nelson, steadily, 
"that these secret labor unions are not 
for the good of either side, thought I my- 
self belong to one. But, Mr. Densler, if 
I mistake not, you yourself belong to a 
Board of Trade whose only object is to 
so control the market as to add to the 
already colossal fortunes of its members. 
While you capitalists combined together 
to inflate or depress prices at your own 
will, can you blame workingmen for com- 
bining too? Can you set them an exam- 
ple of selfishness and greed and not ex- 
pect that they will follow it?" 

Some men rather like a blunt presenta- 
tion of the truth. Matthew Densler was 
one of that class. He smiled grimly. 

"Go on. You are just the kind of a 
chap I like to hear talk, and if I had had 
two or three like you to treat with in the 
beginning of the fuss there might not 
have been any at all." 

"I have but one thing more to say, 
Mr. Densler. The workingman's enemy 
is yours. When drink steals away his 
brains he is ready for riots^ready to kill 
and burn and destroy. But you manu- 
facturers think too much of your busi- 
ness, your comfort, or your convenience, 
to attend the caucusses and primaries, 



and look out for what the saloon interest 

is doing. If von allow it to bribe, tu 
corrupt, to control, do not wonder when 
you reap the bitter fruits of your own 
sowing." 

Matthew Densler called himself a tem- 
perance man, and in one sense this was 
true. He did not drink liquor himself, 
nor did he offer it to others, and if the 
mob carried out their threat of visiting 
his house they would have been likely to 
be disappointed in the contents of his 
cellar. But at the same time he had 
never taken any strong ground for pro- 
hibition. A political measure was of in- 
terest to him merely as it might injure 
or benefit his business. Prohibitionists 
and reformers generally he was a little 
declined to despise — they did not know 
how to make money. 

We take pleasure in sketching Matthew 
Densler's portrait thus minutely, not that 
he has much to do with our story, but 
because he represents very fairly a class 
of "penny-wise, pound-foolish" manufac- 
turers who are quite too common. But 
this much must in justice be said of him. 
If he was a hard, obstinate, irrascible 
man, he was at least an honest one. He 
had the Anglo-Saxon instinct for fair 
play and no favor, and was not at all dis- 
pleased with the young workman for this 
frank statement of his opinions. 

"Go on." he said, with the same grim 
smile. "You seem to have taken it upon 
you to set my sins in order before me, 
and as it happens I haven't anything to 
do just now T but to listen." 

"Mr. Densler," said Nelson, flushing, 
"my remarks were not intended to have 
a personal bearing. I believe you are full 
as just as the average, but while you 
rich manufacturers care more for making 
money than for the bodies or soul- <>i' 
your workmen, these foreign anarchists 
and Socialists will find a fair field among 
them. Not a third of the hands are con- 
-cerned in this riot, but of that third beer 
and whisky are the leaders. If you per- 
sist in ignoring the greatest issue ^i the 
age, why, look out. The time may come 
when you will have to call for armed 
soldiers to defend your property instead 
of a few policemen." 

(To be continued. ) 



r 



118 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



August, 1921. 



LETTERS FROM OUR FRIENDS. 

Rev. Festus Haag of the Immanuel 
Lutheran Church, Effingham. Illinois, 
writes : 

"From the short time I have read the 
Cynosure I can see its improvement. The 
last copy had much news. If we do not 
hear of results we get discouraged so let 
us co-operate and tell of results that are 
happening about us. or of the work that 
is being done. I wish the Cynosure was 
a weekly instead of a monthly paper. 
The following is taken from 
the Lutheran Witness of July 5th : 'Im- 
manuel Congregation at Las Vegas, Xew 
Mexico, has just emerged from a red 
hot Lodge fight, which only tended to 
draw the band of fellowship closer and 
closer. It is rumored that the lodge ele- 
ment consisting of four Norwegian 
Lutheran families is contemplating the 
establishing of an opposition altar. This 
church only knows eight voting members 
yet sincere in their belief." I wish the 
Cynosure and all workers success."'' 



Another Lutheran pastor. Rev. N. P. 
Uhlig, of Cedar Rapids. Iowa, writes : 

"Before I forget it, I shall write you 
out a check for Si. 50 in payment of the 
Cynosure. We cannot attord to be with- 
out it for the cause is so important and 
the fight so earnest that we simply can- 
not attord to stand apart and forego the 
mutual comfort, encouragement and 
helpfulness which we derive from having 
communication with one another. 

" 'Why I Am Not a Mason 5 is a .fine 
tract — forceful and convincing. I have 
placed it on file and shall presently make 
extensive use of it. This town is a fear- 
ful Babylon of lodgery though our peo- 
ple are beginning to testify and argue 
intelligently against it. And if an in- 
dividual has once been brought to the 
point that he opens his mouth and argues 
against the matter, then one might call 
him moderately safe. May the good 
work of testifying go on. I wish you 
God's blessing.'' 



Our good friend. Rev. P. J. Bunge, of 
South Dakota wrote us recently: "The 
Lord bless you and your work ! Keep on 
fighting for the good., grand Cause, for 
the one cause worth mentioning, keep on 
fighting for it with the valor of a Joshua, 



with the ardor of an Elias. with the 
faithfulness of Moses and Paul! The 
Lord of hosts will assist you. In this 
sin-forlorn, lie-serving, money-grabbing, 
pleasure crazy world, it is so very essen- 
tial to proclaim the truth as revealed in 
God's Word, to show the only way to 
happiness and salvation, to stand up for 
Jesus Christ, the true mediator, and to 
fight valiantly for the great Cause of the 
eternal Gospel. Only this will help to 
reconstruct this smitten world." 



From a Lutheran pastor located in 
Illinois we received the following: 

"We have been in the lodge fight for 
about nine months. We have taken up 
the Freemasons first. I have been serv- 
ing this church a little over two years 
and previous to my coming lodges were 
permitted to gain somewhat of a foot- 
hold in the congregation. We have not 
succeeded in winning Masons out of the 
lodge and were obliged to excommuni- 
cate a number. Four members of other 
lodges, one an Odd-Fellow, have left 
their respective lodges upon the testi- 
mony heard in my sermons. Surely the 
promise of the Lord remains true, that 
His Word shall not be preached without 
fruit.'" 



A pastor in Xew York state writes : 
"I am greatly interested in this matter, 
having for years felt that lodges, espe- 
cially Masonry, is a positive menace to 
the church. I believe them all to be the 
Devil's super-counterfeit for the church, 
vet there is seldom a voice of protest. I 
have often answered anxious inquirers 
thus: 'Can you conceive of Jesus Christ 
belonging to a secret order, if so. which 
of the many would He choose, for cer- 
tainlv he would not belong to them all.' ' ; 



The following letter is from a lodge 
man in Pennsylvania and is quoted ver- 
batim : 

"Dear Sir: I am well hoping you 
are the same. I am in need of another 
book for lodge use. I bought books of 
vous before. Well pleased with same. 
The books I need is for lodge use or 
ritual. The others have them and I am 
needing one. I am a member of the 
Nobles of the Mvstic Shrine. I tend 



August, 1921, 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



119 



every meeting. Send me one on trial. 
The other members said it helped them 
very nicely they said I should get one 
too. Lodge meets on Thursday evening 
— a special meeting. We are having 
plenty of sunshine. 



A good friend, Mr. Louis Job of 
Maryland, writes : "I believe that the 
lodge is a greater menace to the Protes- 
tant church in our country today than 
any other force for evil. And I believe 
it is more the fault of the ministry than 
it is the fault of the laymen because they 
should know and in many cases do know 
better, but will not stand up for the 
Truth." 



Did this world get enough, or does it 
demand another shaking over the flames 
of the inferno ? 



"And the nations shall walk amidst 
the light thereof" — The Revelation of 
Saint Tohn the Divine. 



Herbert • Hoover finds out that the 
politicians are not looking for mere in- 
tegrity and competency. They want a 
little pliancy mixed in. 



There are briars besetting every path, 

That call for patient care ; 
There is a cross in every lot, 

And an earnest need for prayer ; 
But a lowly heart that leans on Thee 

Is happy anywhere. 

— Selected. 



Of all the passions of the soul the 
power of pride is the most extensive. — 
Joseph Hart. 



THE MASONIC CHURCH. 



The Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite of 
Freemasonry has recently purchased the 
First Church of Christ, Scientist, located 
at Wilder Avenue and Kewalo Street, in 
the city of ^Honolulu, Hawaii ; consid- 
eration, $100,000. 

"Birds of feathers flock together." 
For many years past Masonry has op- 
erated' through various churches, and the 
purchase of said property for lodge use 
should surprise no one. But what should 
call forth our interest and amazement is 
the willingness of Masonry in late years 



to reveal its doctrines. From the ''front- 
page article" of the June (1921) issue of 
The Nezv Age, official organ of Masonry, 
we clip the following: 

"A deeper study of the science of Free- 
masonry witli its history, principles, allu- 
sions, philosophy, symbolism and ritual, 
shows that it is an age-old body of knowl- 
edge dealing with the rebirth or regen- 
eration of the human soul and having for 
its ultimate purpose the bringing of the 
individual back to a conscious realization 
of his Divine Sonship. Tin's pathway 
back to God is charted for each worthy 
and well qualified, duly and truly pre- 
pared brother. Each stage in the journey 
has its lessons, its trials, its tests ; and to 
him who overcomes in each is granted a 
new vista of development on the home- 
ward way." 

The same article also states that "We 
find many of our modern exponents of 
the Craft advocating that the organiza- 
tion put itself on record as favoring the 
reading of the Bible in the public 
school," etc. Anyone who keeps an eye 
on the forces lined up behind the Smith- 
Towner Bill (now Towner-Sterling Bill) 
will realize that the writer of the fore- 
going has not been dreaming. If the 
Christian Church does not wake up we 
may live to see Masonry injecting its 
Monotheism into our public schools and 
make that religion a national compulsory 
issue. 

And to show what sort of "Bible read- 
ing" Masonry plans for our school- we 
have only to clip the following from the 
same article : 

"Howbeit we speak wisdom among 
them that are perfect : yet not the wis- 
dom of this world, nor of princes that 
come to naught ; but we speak the wis- 
dom of God in a mystery, even the hidden 
wisdom which (nx\ ordained before the 
world unto our glory . . . the natural 
man receiveth not the things oi the Spirit 
of God, for they are foolishness unto 
him ; neither can he know them because 
they are spiritually discerned." 

Those are the "secret" and "mysteries" 
with which Freemasonry deals. 

You will please note that the writer has 
been somewhat "reckless" in his quota- 
tions, lie ha- left out some very inter- 
esting and important words. For instance, 
"Which none of t1\e princes of this world 



r 



120 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



August, 1921. 



knew j for had they knOzvn it, they would 
not have crucified the Lord of glory." 
(See i Cor. 2.) 

What shall we say of men who wilfully 
butcher the Word of God in this shame- 
ful manner ? We need say nothing. The 
Word itself speaks:- "If any man shall 
take away from the words of the book 
of this prophecy, God shall take away 
his part out of the book of life." (Rev. 
22. 19.) "Whosoever shall deny me be- 
fore men, him will I also deny before my 
Father which is in heaven" (Matt. 10, 
32). "Depart from me, ye cursed, into 
everlasting fire, prepared for the devil 
and his angels" (Matt. 25, 41). — B. M. 
H., Lutheran Sentinel. 



Mrs. Johnson : "How does yo' feel 
dis mawnin', Joe?" 

Mr. Johnson : "I feels bad — mighty 
bad ! I wish dat Providence would habe 
missy on me an' take me." 

Mrs. Johnson : "How can you expec' 
Him to ef you won't take de doctor's 
medicine ?" 



EXTRACTS FROM AN ADDRESS BY 
HON. WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN. 

Addressing the faculty, students and 
employes of the Moody Bible Institute of 
Chicago recently, Hon. William Jennings 
Brysan said in part : 

"I come to present to you the Bible as 
the Word of God, and to protest against 
the enemies, open and secret, who would 
lift man from his knees, take from him 
his faith in God and withdraw from his 
life the restraining influence of a belief 
in immortality. That is what I believe 
the Darwinian doctrine is doing. It V ads 
people into agnosticism, pantheism, 
plunges the world into the worst of wars 
and divides society into classes, fighting 
each other on a brute basis. It is time 
that the Christian church should under- 
stand what is going on and array itself 
against these enemies of the church, 
Christianity and civilization. 

Sfc * * 

"The Bible has come down to us 
through the centuries and we find that 
along every line except the one of which 
the Bible treats, there has been marvelous 
progress. But the line of which the Bible 
treats is the one line along which we have 



made no progress. That is the Science 
of How to Live. We go back to the Old 
Testament for the foundation of our 
statute laws, and we go back to the Ser- 
mon on the Mount for the rules that gov- 
ern our spiritual development. 

q: S{s sjs 

"The bright spots of my life are the 
days in which I learned that I had been 
a help in bringing men back to God. 
There is more happiness in bringing souls 
back to God than in three presidential 
nominations. 

* * * 

"The atheist is like the man who blows 
out the light. I know what he has done 
and I can light it again and express my 
opinion of him. But suppose he comes 
up and says, T beg your pardon. I am 
afraid that light is so near you that it will 
hurt your eyes.' He then moves it back 
and back until finally I do not see the 
lights at all. This is the man I am 
afraid of. The higher critic moves the 
light away, a little at a time, and finally 
takes it out of sight. 

* * * 

"There are some honest friends of the 
Bible who count themselves higher critics. 
These men are trying to make the Bible 
suit the men who are criticizing it. But 
a head is worth little except to find rea- 
sons for doing what the heart wants to 
do. Out of the heart are the issues of 
life. There is not a thing that a wicked 
heart wants to do that an intelligent brain 
cannot find a reason for doing. The 
higher critics who are trying to please 
such men are attempting the impossible 
task of suiting the Bible to a skeptical 
brain. 

* * * 

"Few men are brazen enough to call 
Christ a bastard but that is exactly the 
belief of most of the higher critics, many 
of whom teach in our colleges. They say 
they do not believe in the virgin birth. 
They go through the Bible and reject 
everything they do not think reasonable. 
If we have to have a Bible that seems 
reasonable to every man who reads it, we 
must have a good many different kinds 
of Bibles to fit the different reasonings of 
different people — and of the same people 
at different times. It must at last be 
brought down to the mind that can least 
comprehend the Infinite." 



August, 1921 



CHRISTIAN' CYNOSURE 



121 



J^etos; of <&uv WBovk 



A NEW FINANCIAL SOLICITOR. 
Mr. George Anderson of Philadelphia, 

Pennsylvania, has recently been appoint- 
ed by the Board of Directors as solici- 
tor for the Endowment Fund of the 
Christian Cynosure. 

Air. Anderson was a leading contrac- 
tor and ship building in Philadelphia for 
many years. He is a seceder from the 
Masonic lodge and his desire is to be of 
service to God through our Association. 

His special work will be the solicitation 
of funds for the endowing of the 
Christian Cynosure. Friends "of the 
Association will be especially interested 
in his work and we have every reason to 
believe that God will bless Mr. Ander- 
son in this sphere of labor. He is devot- 
ing his time and money to the work of 
the Association without any financial 
help whatever from headquarters. 



Secretary W. I. Phillips is having a 
little vacation from the office. Vacation 
means liberty from routine duties, — we 
endeavor to leave behind us all our usual 
cares and toils and obligations. We hope 
this may be true of Air. Phillips. The 
Cynosure wishes him a pleasant and 
profitable vacation. 



NATIONAL CONVENTION. 

The National Convention of the Na- 
tional Christian Association will be held 
in Grand Rapids, Michigan, September 
28th and 29th. The friends of the As- 
sociation are not only invited to be pres- 
ent but urged as well. The meeting 
promises to be the best meeting we have 
had for years. It comes at a time when 
camp meetings, church conferences, 
young people's rallies are over and 
nothing seems to stand in the way. 

Then again, a splendid program is be- 
ing arranged that will interest old and 
young. Vital problems will be diseus>ed 
by able men who know the truth. 

Among those who will address us will 
be Rev. Dr. Shaw of YYilkinsberg, Penn- 
sylvania; Rev. John F. Heemstra, pastor 
of the Reformed Church of Holland, 
Michigan; Rev. George W. Hvlkema. 
pastor of the Third Christian Reformed 



Church, Roseland, Chicago, 111.; and Dr. 
Charles Blanchard, D.I)., president of 
Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois. We 
are also expecting Mr. George Anderson 
of Philadelphia. Pennsylvania, who is a 
seceder and has been appointed by the 
Board of Director's as one of the new 
workers of the Association. His special 
line of work for the Association will be 
the solicitation of funds for the Endow- 
ment Fund of the Christian Cynosure. 

The Convention will be held in the 
Sherman Street Christian Reformed 
Church, of which Rev. R. B. Kuiper is 
pastor. He with his local committee are 
making every effort to make the meet- 
ing successful. 

Those who are planning to attend will 
do well to write the national headquar- 
ters of the Association, at 850 West 
Madison Street, Chicago, thus giving us 
opportunity to arrange for their stay 
while in Grand Rapids. 

Will you not begin now to pray and 
plan for the Convention. Pastor- will 
do well to urge their young people to at- 
tend. Cut the following out as it will 
serve as a reminder of the Convention : 



OCCASION — Convention of the Na- 
tional Christian Association. 

TIME — September 28th and 29th. 
1921 (Wednesday and Thursday). 

PLACE — Sherman St. Christian Re- 
formed Church, Grand Rapids, Mich. 

SERVICES — Beginning Wednesday 
Evening, September 28th, at 7:30. 



Mr. C. C. Potter, one of our co-work- 
ers in Des Moines. Iowa, writes: 

"You ask me to tell you about the 
Shriners Convention. I thought at tirst 
that I would write the great display of 
folly and heathenism up for some oi the 

Eastern papers, or for the 

of Pittsburgh but when I thought the 
matter over I remembered the passage, 
"tell it not in Gath ; publish it not in the 
streets of Askelon; lest the daughters oi 
the Philistines rejoice." We were so 
ashamed oi the thing and the way many 
of the Shriners drank and treated many 
of the women that we would not wish 
to let the outside world know the tacts 
any farther than we could help and the 
less said about the whole matter, we 
thought, the better. 1 asked one of the 



122 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



August, 1921. 



Doctors after they, the Shriners, had left 
the city what he thought of the affair 
and he said. "The thing will die out as 
soon as the liquor is put out of the coun- 
try as they will not have such gatherings 
if they cannot get liquor." President 
Harding probably acted wisely in not 
being present — they had invited him." 



When Satan, the Law-Adversary, doth 
extend his pleas against us, it is meet that 
we should enlarge our counter pleas for 
our own souls ; as the powers of darkness 
do lengthen and multiply their wrestlings, 
so must we our counter wrestlings of 
prayer. — Thomas Cobbet, 1657. 



to 



EASTERN SECRETARY'S REPORT. 

REV. W. B. STODDARD. 

This finds me in Harshaw, away north 
in the Badger state on my brother James' 
farm. Lumber and potatoes are the 
chief products of this section. A large 
flock of sheep are bleating nearby where 
I write. There are numerous lakes and 
many summer tourists in this section. 
Brother and I and the little girl caught 
forty fish in a few hours yesterday. We 
saw deer tracks along the lake. Each 
man is allowed to shoot a deer in the 
hunting season*. As this letter is not so 
much to report the country as my doings 
I must restrain my inclination to write 
of scenes new and interesting. 

Following my report last month, I 
gave three addresses at Zanesville, Ohio. 
In the first Wesleyan Methodist, and 
Free Methodist Churches, I had good 
audiences and kindly support. Rev. 
Weber of the Lutheran Church had 
made good preparation for my coming. 
Many spoke of being helped with my 
message. Their financial support was 
good. A side visit at White Cottage per- 
mitted the renewal of old acquaintances 
and the meeting of some to whom I had 
preached over thirty years ago in the 
Covenanter Church. The new pastor of 
the Church of the Brethren, expressed 
the w T ish that I return soon, and address 
those to whom he ministers. On my re- 
turn to my home in Virginia I found an 
invitation to preach again in the Presby- 
terian Church of Falls Church. The 



Sabbath school lesson being a considera- 
tion of the Christian home, I had op- 
portunity to speak of the unequal yoke, 
and its terrible consequences. 

My time at home, as usual, was all too 
brief. The fast express brought me back 
to Fort Wayne, Indiana, to fill my ap- 
pointment in connection with the Emaus 
Lutheran Church, Broadway. The eve- 
ning was warm. Pastor Wambsgans 
thought the attendances should have been 
larger. I felt much good was done and 
that it was well worth the effort. 

The unusual happened in the Ohio 
Synod Lutheran Church of which Rev. 
Lembke is pastor. The officials of this 
church gave me the time of the preach- 
ing service on Sabbath morning as no 
other time at my disposal seemed oppor- 
tune. A largely attended meeting in the 
Mennonite Mission, Sabbath evening, 
was cheering. Was sorry to pass with- 
out accepting the invitation to address 
the Concordia students as in other years. 

Our Annual Meeting in Chicago was, 
as is always, a source of inspiration. I 
was glad indeed to meet the standbys 
whom God has spared to the work 
through the years, and to learn that plans 
for enlargement are ahead. After some 
trial, Pastor Kowart of St. Johns 
Lutheran Church, Elgin, Illinois, ar- 
ranged for me to address his people on 
June 3rd. I gave the chart talk. The 
collection showed that they enjoyed it. 

Sabbath, June the 5th, I spent in Chi- 
cago speaking in the Mennonite Mission 
conducted by Rev. Wiens in the morn- 
ing and the Swedish Mission Church of 
Roseland during the afternoon and eve- 
ning. Rev. Obling, the pastor, was con- 
ducting meetings elsewhere and very 
kindly left his people in my care. A 
check for fifteen dollars and much 
kindness shown indicated their apprecia- 
tion. After due consultation, it seemed 
wise that I try to bring up the Wiscon- 
sin work during the month. Some lec- 
tures have been given, and unexpectedly 
good lists of Cynosure subscriptions 
have been obtained. I find here a large 
undeveloped field promising much to the 
one willing to do solid work in its cul- 
tivation. There were calls for lectures 
at Racine, Milwaukee, and Watertown 
and elsewhere, that I hope to reach in 
the early fall. I spoke to about two hun- 



August, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



123 



dred students and others at the North- 
western College of. the Wisconsin Luther- 
an Synod at Wa.tertown. Wausau, Wis- 
consin, is a lumber town, of perhaps 25,- 
000 people, well located and looking very 
beautiful in June attire. Several large 
Lutheran Churches are there. A lecture 
was soon arranged, the pastors seeming 
very thankful for my help. Something 
over fifteen dollars was found on the 
plate at the door after the audience left. 
A gentleman who had subscribed for the 
Cynosure invited me to spend the night 
in his elegant home. Again I found it 
was not necessary to join a lodge to find 
friends when travelling. My largest op- 
portunity for good this trip was last 
Sabbath at a Lutheran Missionary 
gathering in the woods about six miles 
from Merrill, Wisconsin. There was 
preaching by able missionary representa- 
tives in the morning and afternoon. 
Your representative was given a hearing 
of forty-five minutes right after a fine 
chicken dinner. Some said I used my 
time well. It was thought there were 
two thousand or more within the sound 
of my voice. The young man with his 
best girl was there, of course. It was 
hard to get the attention of some but the 
most gave good attention and many evi- 
dences of approval. Some lectures and 
several Synodical gatherings of Lutheran 
ministers are ahead. I hope to return to 
Chicago by the time this gets to Cyno- 
sure readers. 



Lancaster, Penn. 

As this report is to appear with that of 
last month, I must be brief. My trip 
through Wisconsin was a success. While 
at my brother's I had two meetings in a 
school house nearby. There was quite 
a difference of opinion regarding the 
lodges. My meetings being the first of 
the kind in that section here was natural- 
ly not a little discussion, which I trust 
resulted in much good. 

Synodical meetings of the Ohio and 
Missouri Lutherans gave good oppor- 
tunity for effective work. Good hearings 
of our Cause were given, responses 
showing a live interest. Fine lists of 
subscriptions were secured. I stopped 
over Sabbath at Racine, Wisconsin, with 
our good friends of the Christian Re- 
formed Church, and was given a kindly 



hearing with collection in aid of our 
work. 

Returning to Chicago I found a very 
large assemblage of the Northern Illi- 
nois district of the Missouri Lutheran 
pastors and teachers. I was given half 
an hour to speak between dinner and the 
afternoon regular hour of gathering and 
so secured a general hearing of those 
present. As at the Wisconsin meetings 
there were many requests for lecture, 
more I fear than I shall be able to reach. 
A lecture in the Third Christian -Re- 
formed Church brought forth some dis- 
cussion. While this church is united in 
its anti-lodge position there are a few 
of the young men who question the wis- 
dom of the position. There are always, 
of course, those who want to be with the 
popular crowd. 

Before coming to this section I re- 
mained at home "for repairs" for a time. 
Weather has been unusually warm. 
Local showers have brought relief. Crop 
prospects seem fairly good. This is a 
very rich agricultural district. There are 
good friends here. Reports of good 
meetings may be expected next month. 
Ohio should have my service during 
August. Added expense in travel should 
cause me to make the most of my time. 

I almost forgot to make mention of 
my very helpful meeting in the Church 
of the Brethren at Oakton, Virginia, last 
Sabbath. I have addressed this congre- 
gation many times on the lodge question 
but whenever I go their way they call 
for more. A summer school in progress 
gave opportunity to reach many young 
people. 



"LIZZIE WOOD'S LETTER." 
Dear Cynosure : 

This writing finds me at Decatur. 
Illinois. I left Omaha, Nebraska, on the 
13th of May to visit the State Meeting 
of the Church of God in Christ. We 
were blessed with a good meeting and 
many souls were saved. \Ye had a Bible 
class for women every morning for ten 
days and each night I had a chance to 
speak to a crowded house of white and 
colored people. 

One night I was telling about the 
awful oaths that Freemasons and kin- 
dred secret societies are compelled to 
take. When I began to tell the secrets 



124 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



August, 1921. 



■ 



I saw a big darky in the rear get up and 
go out. I could see that he was mad. 
It makes the Devil mad, you know, 
when you expose his works. When the 
altar call was made and people were 
coming forward for prayer I went back 
in the audience to this man who had 
returned. I went to him and spoke to 
him kindly and asked him if he was a 
Christian. He said, "I belong to a 
Church. I got religion." I answered, 
"I asked you if you were a Christian." 
He said, "I live the best I know how." 

Y\ nen I asked what there was in my 
lesson that made him so angry .he re- 
plied, ''Well, I think you went too far 
when you began telling the secrets of 
Masonry." "Are you a Mason?" I 
asked, and he said, "I used to be but 
quit them. Ain't you Lizzie Woods?" 
I assured him I was and he said, "I 
know you. I heard you fighting the sin 
of secret societies in 191 5 at Dumas, 
Arkansas, and I quit them at that time. 

1 saw that it was wrong." I asked him 
"Why did you get so angry then tonight 
when I was warning Christians to come 
out and to keep out of Masonry." He 
said, "I don't know. I was mad for a 
few minutes." "I'll tell you what's the 
matter with you," I said, "why man, you 
are possessed with the devil and he won't 
let you do what is right in the sight of 
God." He said, "Sister Woods, I have 
been a Mason but still I sin sometimes. I 
cannot live holy." I answered, "But God 
has called you to holiness. (1 Thes. 
4:7.) Paul says in Romans seventh 
chapter that when he would do good, evil 
was present. He also says in Galations 

2 :2G T am crucified with Christ ; never- 
theless I live ; yet not I, but Christ liveth 
in me : and the life which I now live in 
the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of 
God, who loved me, and gave himself for 
me.' Now you give up your sin and 
forsake them and let Jesus Christ come 
into your heart and life." "But," he 
said, "I don't see how I can give up all 
sin. I am in a sinful world." I referred 
him to 1 Peter 4: 1-5 — 

"Forasmuch then as Christ hath suf- 
fered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves 
likewise with the same mind ; for he that 
hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased 
from sin : That he no longer should live 
the rest of his time in the flesh to the 



lusts of men, but to the will of God. For 
the time past of our life may suffice us 
to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, 
when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, 
excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, 
and abominable idolatries : Wherein 
they think it strange that ye run not with 
them to the same excess of riot, speak- 
ing evil of you ; Who shall give account 
to him that is ready to judge the quick 
and the dead." 

I told him, "People will speak evil of 
you when you will not agree or take sides 
with the devil but they will have to give 
an account to God for their actions." 

He then asked to see one of the Ma- 
sonic rituals I had, and after showing it 
to him he said, "Well, well, that surely 
is Masonry, as sure as you're born." So 
you see God shall bring every secret 
work into judgment whether it be good 
or whether it be evil (Luke 8:17) "for 
nothing is secret that shall not be made 
manifest ; neither any thing hid, that shall 
not be known and come abroad." 

He said, "Well, the Bible is right and 
so are you but if everybody in the church 
must give up their sins before they can 
get to Heaven, there'll not be many 
there." I answered, "Jesus says in 
Mathew 7:14 that there will be few. 
Why just a few were saved from the 
flood. The animals had more sense than 
man for they went into the ark and were 
saved and foolish man refused to go in 
and were drowned. In Numbers 22 123 
we see an ass had more sense than 
Balaam. 'And the ass saw the angel of 
the Lord standing in the way, and his 
sword drawn in his hand; and the ass 
turned aside out of the way, and went 
into the field ; and Balaam smote the ass, 
to turn her into the way.' And in the 
34th verse we see what an old fool run- 
ning after money will do. Balaam did 
not have as much sense as the ass. In 
Isaiah 1:3 it says, The ox knoweth his 
owner, and the ass his master's crib, but 
Israel doth not know, my people doth 
not consider.' Ah, sinful nation, a peo- 
ple laden with iniquity, a seed of evil 
doers, children that are corrupters ; they 
have forsaken the Lord, they have pro- 
voked the Holy One of Israel unto 
anger, they are gone away backward." 

I said that is what the secret work of 
the Devil is doing to this country. The 



August, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



125 



Unions, the Night Riders, the Ku Klux 
Klan, the Masons, the Elks, the Big 
Dogs and every other thing the Devil can 
invent to destroy the people in cursing 
America. It is nothing but a holy life 
that will keep men out of all these sins 
and the preacher may preach all he wants 
but until he lives holy himself and cuts 
loose from the lodge he will have no 
power in his ministry. John Wesley in 
his day taught that such lodge pastors 
will all go to hell and lead the people 
down with them unless they repent. God 
is not going to change His Word to suit 
the Modern Prophets of Baal. 

Then I left this man and crossed the 
aisle and spoke with a brother who said 
he was once a "V. B. T." and that when 
he was to take the oath of that order it 
was so wicked he trembled. He said, 
"I had to swear to have the lightning 
strike me and scatter my brains if I 
wasn't loyal to the Order, and I know we 
were all swearing to a lie and I got out 
of that place as quickly as I could." He 
was not a Christian and needed help so 
I referred him to John 8 134, "Verily, 
verily I say unto you whosoever com- 
mitteth sin is the servant of sin." 
Romans 6:16 says the same thing. He 
said, "Pray for me ; I want to live right," 
and then we read Titus 2: 11 and 12, 
"for the grace of God that bringeth sal- 
vation hath appeared to all men, teaching 
us that, denying ungodliness and worldly 
lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, 
and godly, in this present world." Well, 
that fellow squirmed around like a worm 
in the fire. He turned ashy pale and 
perspiration fell off of his brow in big 
drops. He said, "I don't like to talk 
about religion in the church." His sin- 
ner friend next to him said, "I don't 
blame you for I am not anything but a 
big sinner — never was converted, but 
you belong to the church and even do 
things I'd be afraid to do." I turned to 
this friend and said, "Let him alone. He 
has backsliden and the Lord will take 
care of this case." Then I pointed to 
Hosea 14:4: "I will heal their back- 
sliding, I will love them freely ; for mine 
anger is turned away from him." Then 
we all three knelt in prayer and I prayed 
and they praye'd. 

The following day I was invited out to 
dinner with them and we had prayer in 
their home. 



I was invited to speak at the Methodist 
Church in St. Joseph, Missouri, and 
many hungry souls were glad to hear 
the Word of God. Though many were 
lodge members I did not fail to declare 
the whole council of God. A few 
women got mad and went out — turtles in 
character. You know the turtle sits on 
a log with its head up but as soon as a 
few drops of rain fall on its tail down 
they go. They don't want to get wet so 
they jump into the water. These poor 
women did not want to hear about the 
lodges. Like the truth they changed 
ends. 

I visited the home of Jesse James 
while in St. Joseph. I went into his 
room where he was killed thirty-nine 
years ago and saw the bullet hole in the 
wall where poor Jesse was fixing the 
picture when he was killed. I took his 
pistol in my hand — the first he had ever 
used. It had five marks on it for the first 
five men he had killed. I said, poor child 
of sin, he reaped what he sowed, but it 
was so cowardly I could not help but feel 
sad as I remembered the way he was 
killed. 

I left St. Joseph for Kansas City. 
Missouri. They welcomed me and 
begged be to stay longer but I wanted to 
attend the Annual Meeting of the Na- 
tional Christian Association on June 
first. The Lord blessed me and my 
daughter at this meeting. I was so glad 
to meet the many friends as well as 
President John F. Heemstra and Dr. C. 
A. Blanchard. When I listened to 
Brother Phillips report of the work I 
heard him say he had been in this work 
for fifty years. I said, Lord, I have not 
done anything much for Thee, help me 
to do more according to my ability. I 
could see how little I am doing when I 
listened to, all the reports of the various 
workers. I was sorry to hear our Secre- 
tary, dear Sister Nora E Kellogg, is to 
leave us and go to China. God bless her 
and make her as great a blessing in China 
as she has been to us. 

Before leaving Chicago 1 went to the 
National Christian Association's office to 
visit with Editor Phillips. J found him 
in perfect health. Miss Johnson, the 
office secretary, is happy to give her 
young life to the help of the Lord's work 
in service of the X. C. A. 1 also visited 
in towns nearby Chicago as well as Mis- 



126 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



August, 1.921. 



sions in the city. All were glad to have 
me come. The Lord blest me to teach 
in all these places and distribute tracts. 
Decatur, 111. 
June, 192 1. 

Waco, Texas. 
This writing finds me in Waco, Texas, 
at the great annual Holiness State 
Meeting. I left Chicago the eighth of 
June, stopping at Decatur, Illinois, for 
four days where I found a big tent at 
my service which gave me a chance to 
reach many people who never go in a 
church. The congregation was mostly 
white people — just a few colored were 
out but there were enough to get mad 
about their lodge idol the first evening I 
was there. 

One colored man said, "If that woman 
tells any more of our secrets, we will run 
her out of this town." I told the sister 
who mentioned what he had said that I 
was not afraid and that "I am one of 
his black sisters and we do not fear each 
other. I come in the name of the Lord 
of Hosts and I am not afraid to speak 
the truth in love." 

The next evening I gave out tracts 
against secret societies and then took my 
Bible and proved to the members of the 
church who were also secret society 
members that they were idolatrous wor- 
shipers. I said, "There are good and 
honest men and women in the lodge but 
the principle of the secret work is 
wrong." 

I took up the labor unions and said, 
"You go into them that you might get 
better wages, and that you might have 
the means to take care of your wife and 
children but you have not thought of 
the strike you may be called to at any 
time. Then if some one else goes to 
work where you quit they are likely to be 
slugged. Now don't you see the principle 
is wrong. You Masons — if a man 
doesn't keep his oath to help his brother 
Mason in whatever he does then you 
have to help to kill him. You Ku Klux 
Klan join the thing to protect white 
women and yet you have the white slave 
trade in this country where girls are sold 
to houses of ill fame. All this sin and 
bloodshed is sending thousands of inno- 
cent as well as guilty people to eternity 
because of the horrible secret oaths." 



"Now, don't you Christian people see 
that those good men who join these secret 
works of the Devil are making murder- 
ers of your sons whom they drag into 
the lodge snare. Jesus said, 'all that take 
the sword shall perish with the sword' 
(Math. 26:52). The Word of God still 
stands today." 

Well, after I taught this lesson the 
lodgites, both white and black, got mad 
and they talked about it all over town 
the following day. They said, "That tent 
was put up there to preach the Gospel 
in and not to expose secret orders and if 
she says anything else about secret so- 
cieties she will have to leave Decatur." 
I heard all that being said so when the 
next evening came I said, "Now, my 
friends, I am going to preach the same 
gospel tonight as I preached last night. 
Some folks told me if I did I would 
have to leave town but if you do not kill 
me tonight I will leave town tomorrow 
anyway. I am going to St. Louis, Mis- 
souri. And if you do kill me I will 
leave for Heaven. You see it is just as 
easy for me to go to Heaven from here 
■ "as it is for me to go from Omaha, Ne- 
braska, where I have my home. I shall 
tell you the truth about lodge religion 
again tonight." Just then someone shot 
off a gun near the tent and I proceeded 
just the same and said, "Now folks, that 
don't scare me a bit. I am going to 
preach the everlasting Gospel." 

After the service many shook hands 
with me and said, "God be with you." 

My daughter gave out the tracts we 
had on hand. She said some of the 
white men surely were mad. They would 
take the tracts, then throw them down on 
the ground, but some stood under the 
light and read them and said, "What does 
all this mean." One big colored Mason 
told me, "I am as high as a Mason can 
go but God knows, sister, my heart is 
honest. You are right. The people who 
send out these tracts are right. America 
is fast going into heathenism on account 
of the secret societies. Men are killing, 
burning, stealing and protecting each 
other and I want to thank you for what 
you have told us tonight." 

More of my experiences in the N. C. 
A. work will follow next month. 

Lizzie W. Roberson. 



August, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



127 



SOUTHERN AGENT'S REPORT. 

REV. F. J. DAVIDSON. 

I wrote my last report from Morgan 
City, Louisiana, a thriving and progres- 
sive city on the beautiful Berwick Bay, 
near the junction of the rich Bajou 
Teche country, twenty-five miles off the 
Gulf of Mexico, in southwest Louisiana. 
Sugar cane, rice and corn crops in this 
alluvial country are in clean and in fine 
condition, giving hope for an abundant 
harvest with the hope of helping to lower 
the high cost of living. Wages through- 
out the Teche section have been reduced 
from ioo to 124 per cent but the neces- 
sities of life are yet at an exorbitant 
price. Revs. F. Hans, one of the old 
Cynosure veterans, A. A. Carter, C. H. 
Hayes and W. H. Bordelon are the 
undershepherds in Morgan City, each of 
whom received me cordially and extended 
a cordial invitation to me. 

My next stop was at St. Johns Baptist 
Church in Berwick where my reception 
was very cold by Deacons Johnson and 
Edwards. However, Brother H. Hend- 
erson received me kindly and Mrs. Hend- 
erson prepared a splendid lunch which 
was enjoyed. Brother Henderson con- 
veyed me to the hospitable home of 
Deacon Paul Saunders of Little Zion 
Baptist Church who received me with 
open arms and arranged for me to 
preach. The Holy Ghost was present 
and a young man, a young woman and 
an aged woman were graciously delivered 
from sin and were received into the fel- 
lowship of the church. The people were 
so well pleased that they invited me to re- 
main with them another night at which 
service one young man and two young 
ladies were saved from sin and joined the 
church. Brethren Croft and Hughes re- 
ceived and entertained me royally at their 
home. 

Mount Zion Church made me a hand- 
some donation. I was surprised to hear 
that Rev. J. H. Leonard had informed 
the officers of St. John's Church not to 
receive me as he did not want me in his 
pulpit. Thirty years ago when I was in 
the prime of young Christian manhood 
and pastoring St. Matthew Baptist 
Church of New Orleans, I was the first 
preacher in Louisiana to open my home 



and pulpit to this apostle of the secret 
empire and brought him prominently be- 
fore the people of Louisiana through 
The Tribune, my own personal news- 
paper. 

My next stop was Patterson, Louisi- 
ana, where my old friend and colleague, 
Rev. J. C. Rochelle, holds the reins at 
the big New Hope Baptist Church with 
some several hundred loyal members. 
Doctor and Mrs. Rochelle received me 
with warm hearts and open arms and 
made my two days' stay pleasant. I 
preached one sermon at his church. He 
is a member of the lodge but has not 
been active in attendance for years. He, 
along with others, has awakened to the 
fact that the lodges are stifling the 
churches. 

I forgot to mention the kind of treat- 
ment and hospitality received at the 
hands and home of Brother and Sister 
Steve Jackson in Morgan City. From 
Patterson I went to Jeanerette, where a 
cordial welcome was accorded me by 
Revs. D. L. Palmer and W. H. Cole- 
man, both of whom were courteous. I 
spoke at both of their churches on Sab- 
bath and received cordial invitations to 
return. I found all of these towns in- 
fested with various kinds of secret so- 
cieties which are well patronized with 
both ministers and laymen. I was given 
perfect liberty of speech in each church 
and I spoke as the Spirit gave me utter- 
ance. I next went to St. James to fill 
engagements, but was summoned home 
to the bedside of my sick wife. 

I had the good fortune to visit and 
speak at the 47th Annual session of the 
Second District Baptist Association, 
Donalds ville, Louisiana, where I re- 
ceived an old welcome and ovation and 
contribution. I discussed the lodge 
question, distributed tracts, and received 
a few readers to the Cynosure. The re- 
ports were made with marked degree of 
intelligence, showing progress along all 
lines. More than two thousand dollars 
cash was raised. I next made brief stops 
at St. Patrick, Paulina, Lutcher and 
preached for Revs. J. E. Ellis, J. Lewis, 
and at Kenner, Louisiana, where I 
preached for Rev. Samuel Gilmore. I 
will speak, the Lord willing, of my St. 
Patrick, Paulina and Lutcher, as well as 
Kenner trip, in a later letter. 



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NATIONAL CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION 
850 W. Madison St CHICAGO. ILL 




OFFICIAL ORGAN, NATIONAL CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION 
15 CENTS A COPY ESTABLISHED 1868. $1.50 A YEAh 



VOL. LIV. No. 5. 



CHICAGO. 



SEPTEMBER, 1921 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 

Published Monthly by the National Christian 
Association. 



WM. I. PHILLIPS 

850 West Madison Street, Chicago. 

Managing Editor. 

TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION 

PRICE — Per year, in advance, $1.50; three 
months, on trial, thirty-five cents; single 
copies, fifteen cents. 

PRESENTATION COPIES— Many persons sub- 
scribe for the Christian Cynosure to be sent 
to FRIENDS. In such cases, if we are advised 
that a subscription is a present and not regu- 
larly authorized by the recipient, we wl 
make a memorandum to discontinue at ex- 
piration, and to send no bill for the ensuing 
/ear. 

BUSINESS LETTERS should he addressed to 
Wm. I. Phillips, Qen. Secy., at the above ad- 
dress. 

Entered as Second-class matter May 19, 1897, 
*t the Post Office at Chicago, 111., under Aot of 
Vlaro'a 3, 1879. 



CONTENTS 



Photograph, Rev. John F. Heemstra, Presi- 
dent, National Christian Association. .Cover 

Our National Convention in Grand Rapids, 
Mich 131 

Gompers Is a Mason - 131 

The American Legion and the Elks, by 
B. M. Holt 131 

Photograph, Rev. Dr. George Shaw, author 
of "Acquainted With Grief" — Quotations 
from Chapter, The Reformers 132 

The Menace of Secretism, by Prof. J. M. 
Coleman 133 

For the Edification of Methodists 135 

Methodist Ministers at the Movies, 

Illustration 135 

Wesley, a Mason : or Some Headwins 
to Methodist Pride. — The Burning 

Bush 135 

The Thermometer Shows Great Heat- 
Enthusiasm, Illustration 136 

A Sudden Chill, Illustration 137 

Was Charles Wesley a Freemason?.... 138 

"Ephesians 5 :11." 138 

Good Night ! Illustration 138 



Were the Wesleys Masons? — Christian 

Advocate 138 

The Question of the Hour, by E. E. Flagg. 141 
Ceremony of Baptism, Ancient and Ac- 
cepted Scottish Rite. (Concluded.) 148 

Ritual, Brotherhood of Railway Clerks- 
Installation Ceremony 146 

How the Shriners Behaved in Des Moines, 

by G. H. F 148 

Fraternities and Sororities— Suburban Life 149 

Masonic Chips, by B. M. Holt 152 

News of Our Work: 

Eastern Secretary's Report by Rev. 

W. B. Stoddard 154 

"Lizzie Woods' Letter," by Mrs. L. W. 

Roberson 155 

Southern Agent's Report, by Rev. F. J. 

Davidson 157 

Visitors at the N. C. A. Office 158 

A Boy's Experience, by Rev. O. F. 

Engelbrecht 159 

A Valuable Letter, by S. C. Kimball. .. . 159 
National Lutheran Council, by B. M. 
Holt 159 



NATIONAL CHRISTIAN ASSOCIA- 
TION. 



President, Rev. John F. Heemstra; 
Vice-President, Rev. Wm. B. Rose, 
Recording Secretary, Mrs. N. E. Kel- 
logg; Secretary-Treasurer, Wm. I. 
Phillips. 



BOARD OF DIRECTORS. 

Walter Wietzke, A. W. Safford, G. W. 
Hylkema, Wm. P. Ferries, J. R. Shaf- 
fer, G. W. Bond, M. P. F. Doermann, 
A. H. Leaman, C. A. Blanchard, George 
Slager and Thos. C. McKnight. 



LECTURERS. 

Those desiring lectures or addresses 
may write to any of the speakers named 
below : 

Rev. W. B. Stoddard, Box 94, East 
Falls Church, Virginia 

Rev. Adam Murrman, Arena, Wis. 

Rev. F. J. Davidson, 927 St. Maurice 
Ave., New Orleans, La. 

Mrs. Lizzie W. Roberson, 2864 Corby 
St., Omaha, Neb. 

Pres. C. A. Blanchard, Wheaton, 111 



There is none 
other Name 
under heaven, 
given among 
m£n, whereby 
we must be 
aaVed . 

— Acts 4:12 



CHRISTIAN 

CYNOSURE 



Jesus answcrca 


him: I 


spake 


openly 


to the 


world, 


and in 


secret 


have I 


said nothing. 


—Joh 


n 18:20 



THE NATIONAL CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION 

invites you to the 

NATIONAL CONVENTION 

respecting 

SECRET SOCIETIES 

in the 

SHERMAN STREET CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH 

Cor. Tenth and Sherman Sts., S. E., 

Grand Rapids, Michigan, 

Wednesday and Thursday, September 28th and 29th, 1921. 



Among the speakers are Rev. Dr. 
George Shaw, author, teacher and pastor 
of Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania ; Rev. Dr. 
C. A. Blanchard, President of Wheaton 
College, Wheaton, Illinois ; Rev. G. W. 
Hylkema, pastor Third Christian Re- 
formed Church, Roseland, Chicago, Illi- 
nois ; and Rev. John F. Heemstra, of 



Holland, Michigan, and President of the 
National Christian Association. 

Mr. B. M. Holt of Fargo, North Da- 
kota, has sent in his testimony as a se- 
ceder for the afternoon session and Mr. 
George Anderson writes that he will be 
present and speak for himself. We are 
sure of others and also of a time worth 
while to all who can be present. 



GOMPERS IS A MASON. 

Samuel Gompers, president of the 
American Federation of Labor, is a 
thirty-second degree Mason. 



The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago 
graduated eighty students of the summer 
term from its Bible study, missionary and 
gospel music courses at public exercises 
in the Institute Auditorium on August 
ii, 1921. Rev. Joseph Taylor Britan. 
D. D., pastor of the Central Presbyterian 
Church of Columbus, Ohio, was the 
speaker of the evening. 

The graduating class represents twen- 
ty-five states and four foreign countries. 
Twenty-three will graduate from the mis- 
sionary course. 

During the past four months 230 stu- 
dents have completed courses in the In- 
stitute's Correspondence Department. 



They represent forty states and the fol- 
lowing foreign countries : Canada, Eng- 
land, China, Japan, Australia, New Zea- 
land and the Philippine Islands. There 
are now 6,900 active students enrolled in 
the Correspondence Department. 



THE AMERICAN LEGION AND THE 
ELKS. 

BY B. M. HOLT. 

Recently the American Legion Post 
and the Elks Lodge of Fargo, North 
Dakota, jointly celebrated with the Amer- 
ican Legion Post and Elks Lodge of 
Detroit, Minnesota. 

The idea of making the Legion a lodge 
becomes more and more manifest. No 
wonder The Nation gives out figures 
.stating that the Legion now has only 
800.000 members as compared with 
3,000,000 originally. 

A peculiar privilege accorded to the 



132 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



September, 1921. 



Elks" lodge seems to be the fact that they 
manufacture and design their uniforms 
stitch by stitch and piece by piece (in 
bright lodge colors) just like uniforms of 
the American Legion (U. S. soldiers). 
This benefit of custom, or rather of vio- 
lation of civil law, we can be sure is one 
that only the lodge may enjoy! 




L> 



REV. DR. GEORGE SHAW. 

Author of ''The Spirit in Redemption," 
"Selling the Birthright," "History of the Liter- 
ature of the English Bible'' and "Acquainted 
With Grief.'" 

Rev. Dr. Shaw is to be one of our 
speakers in Grand Rapids.. Michigan, 
Wednesday and Thursday, September 
28th and 29th. It is the first time that 
Dr. Shaw has spoken at one of our con- 
ventions. There will be special interest 
to many in hearing him. We quote a few 
lines from a chapter entitled "The Re- 
formers" in his book, ''Acquainted With 
Grief."' 

" 'The world is to be redeemed finally 
by the labors and religion of men whose 
days are days of sadness, protest and suf- 
fering, and whose hours of triumph and 
exaltation are few and far between/ Like 
the Swiss hero who gathered the pikes of 
the enemy and plunged them into his own 
bosom to make way for the oncoming 
patriots, so these Reformers who receive 
the scorns and sneers and bitter hatreds 



and cruel scourgings of the enemy pre- 
pare the way for the sons of liberty and 
give larger freedom to the Church of 
Christ. A few of them have escaped 
physical death and bodily torture, but 
none of them have escaped those mental 
agonies and soul tempests which attend 
open conflicts with the prince of dark- 
ness. * ■* * 

"Luther, who. like Wyclif. Calvin 
Zwingli, Farel. Oecolampadius, Melanch- 
thon. escaped martyrdom, was neverthe- 
less a man of great suffering. Volumes 
might be written on the sufferings of 
these Reformers. 

"Luther was the most hated man of his 
age. His enemies were seeking his death 
night and day and. like Paul, he was 'in 
deaths oft.' He endured untold mental 
anguish and suffered tormenting fears. 
He expressed himself often as weary of 
life. He was tired of the bitter assaults 
of his enemies and of the strifes and divi- 
sions of the reformed faith. He was 
hated by friends and foes of the Refor- 
mation. * * * 

"I have mentioned only the great Re- 
formers of the Church. There are thou- 
sands who have borne testimony to the 
truth and sealed it with their life's blood, 
a host that no man can number. Their 
names are written in the Lamb's Book 
of Life. 

"It is still the fate of the Reformer to 
suffer. Let any man attempt to lead the 
Church to a purer faith : let him run 
counter to the customs of his day : let 
him speak against the superstitions in 
science, philosophy or religion, and he 
will feel that this world is not yet ready 
to walk in the light. Only a few men 
dare to do so and to these men we owe 
our liberties. 

" What shall we have?' said those who 
flocked to the standard of Garibaldi when 
he revolted against despotism. 

" 'Have? You shall have cold, hunger 
and nakedness ; you shall have long 
marches and terror of night-watches ; you 
-hall have the battles and wounds, and 
disease and death. You shall have these, 
but Italy shall be free.' 

"What shall we have if we follow the 
Master? 'In this world ye shall have 
tribulation: but be of good cheer, for I 
have overcome the world.' 'Think not it 
strange .concerning the fiery trials that are 



September, 1921 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



133 



to try you as though some strange thing 
happened unto you.' The price of being 
true is the cross.' 'Ye have not resisted 
unto blood striving against sin.' Your 
trials are light compared to thousands 
who have gone before. Let us learn to 
'endure hardness as good soldiers of 
Jesus Christ.' Let us join the ranks of 
the overcomers and win the plaudit of 
the Master : 'Well done, good and faith- 
ful' servant, enter into the joy of thy 
Lord.' " 



THE MENACE OF SECRETISM. 

BY PROF. J. M. COLEMAN. 

[The following is in part an address given 
before the recent State Convention of the Iowa 
Christian Association. — Editor.] 

As we meet here tonight to voice in a 
public way our opposition to the secret 
lodge, we should not forget that while 
those who hold with us against the lodge 
may be few, those who agree with us on 
the general position of protest against 
secretism are a great host. With all such 
I wish to link our interests tonight, not 
only for our own encouragement, but to 
open the eyes of lodgemen to the implica- 
tions of their position. Lodge men are 
protesting with us against profiteering, 
against graft in politics, against secret 
diplomacy in international affairs, and 
there is not one of these things which 
does not depend for its existence on se- 
crecy. What I want to suggest here is 
that the lodge system is only an advanced 
form of the disease, the finished product 
that brings forth death, and that men 
who oppose the principle in business and 
politics should set their faces against it 
in its lodge form. 

Every institution in the community, 
with the possible exception of the jail, is 
paying high for light. The school, the 
store, the bank, the residence, pay high 
rates for window space. The lodge is 
the only institution in the town which has 
no windows. Publicity is the rule in 
every other branch of public life and 
other institutions like the jfchurch are 
courting publicity, asking everyone to 
come in and see what they are doing. 
But the lodge is a closed shop to the pub- 
lic and its members insist that we know 
nothing about it. Sometimes we are told 
that the lodge has a religion. Why not, 
then, make it public. Christianity has no 



secrets. Heathen religions alone have 
secrets. 

We are told that the insurance feature 
is a chief thing in some orders Well. 
there are no secrets in an insurance com- 
pany. Why is the lodge the only institu- 
tion in the world where secrecy, even 
oath-bound, is a necessity ! 
We Do Not Want Secrets in the Family. 

That is what breaks the home. What 
the family needs all the time is the open 
game. When the father and the mother 
and the children can come together 
around the table and make their plans, it 
gives us the purest democracy that the 
world knows. No danger of the boy or 
girl going wrong when the affairs are 
talked over together. It is when Mary 
or John have secrets from the folks at 
home that there is danger. It is when 
husbands and wives have secrets that 
there is danger. While the family plans 
and works as a team it is safe. That is 
so plain that it needs only the statement 
to get acceptance and any lodgeman is 
against secrecy in his own home, unless 
he is the one who has the secret. He 
does not want the rest of the family to 
have them so he is a poor team player. 
We Do Not Want Secrecy in Business. 

We have all been caught in the recent 
years by the profiteering in coal. Living 
almost in the coal field as I do, you might 
expect that I would escape, but no one 
has escaped. We have the miners and 
the operators and railroads and local coal 
men, all somehow sharing in the work. 
and while we are sure there is profiteer- 
ing going on, it is hard to locate the 
criminal. If we could locate him. public 
opinion or the courts or both would pun- 
ish, but we have not found him. Secrecy 
is the thing which makes profiteering 
possible. 

I tried some time ago when the ques- 
tion was more vital than now. to discover 
the thief. I soon found that one could 
learn nothing from the operators. Their 
books would have revealed what we need 
to know hut those books are secrets not 
to be revealed. Then I found that the 
miners did not keep accounts which one 
might use. One cannot find out what the 
local dealers pay for coal because while 
they may show you the hill for certain 
cars of coal, it is known that other ear- 
are shipped without bills costing the deal- 



134 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



September, 1921. 



L. 



ers only the freight charge, so that the 
actual price may be concealed. Therefore 
I learned that I could not get through 
the secrets of the profiteers . Now you 
and I know that if the facts could be pub- 
lished it would kill profiteering and it 
continues because of secretism. You 
lodgemen are opposed to profiteering and 
opposed to the secrecy that makes it pos- 
sible. You want publicity to kill it. Why 
is not publicity good for your business in 
the lodge? 

Graft in Politics Exists on Account of 
Secrecy. 

That i? the reason why dishonest poli- 
ticians must control the press. If report- 
ers would reveal what they know about 
political conditions in our cities it would 
mean a revival of religion in politics. 
Graft dies in the light. While the public 
conscience makes not the highest stand- 
ard, yet it would not tolerate public dis- 
honesty and the grafter would be forced 
out of office. If publicity is essential to 
morality* in the State House, why not in 
the lodge? The same grafters are in the 
lodge that are in politics : in fact lodge 
membership is usually a step to nomina- 
tion and election. 

Primary elections and other devices 
which have been recently adopted are at- 
tempts to defeat the work of the gang 
that meets and plans in secret to set aside 
the choice of the people. The claim is 
openly made and not denied that both the 
leading candidates for the Presidency of 
the United States at the last election were 
chosen by half a dozen men who met in 
secret in advance of the convention to 
plan to defeat the popular will. 

Take the secrecy out of politics and it 
would do more than anything else that 
has been proposed to give us honest elec- 
tions and administrations. 

Secret Diplomacy Is the Fruitful Cause of 
War. 

The ideals for which our boys gave 
their lives were in good degree ignored 
and set aside by the secret treaties of 
which we knew nothing until the war 
was on. Italy had arranged for her 
pound of flesh in one place. France in 
another. Constantinople was to be given 
to Russia and thus bv the agressions 
provided for by the secret treaties the 
rires were laid for future wars. But even 
worse than the secret treaties mentioned 



was the continual secret diplomacy, the 
system of deception, the secret alliances 
that were in continual process of forma- 
tion and dissolution. Spies were em- 
ployed by every government to carry the 
secrets of the neighbor state. That has 
been the atmosphere of Europe for a hun- 
dred years. With such conditions war 
was inevitable, the only wonder being 
that it was so long delayed. Secret 
diplomacy is the curse of international 
relations and no word is raised in public 
in its behalf. 

Conclusion. 
Then, if secrecy is detrimental in the 
home, in business, in politics and in inter- 
national affairs, and no one would ques- 
tion the conclusion I am drawing so far. 
then why should it be helpful in the 
secret lodge? Is there something peculiar 
in this institution that is not found else- 
where? Is the thing that is productive 
of evil in other associations somehow 
sanctified here? Since men are led into 
evil courses in business and politics 
through secrecy that is practiced, are 
they somehow immune in the lodge asso- 
ciations ? It is true that secrecy is an 
advantage to the criminal. Indeed that 
is essential in the commission of crime 
if the criminal is to escape. But what is 
the value of secrecy to the honest mem- 
ber of the lodge? Therefore. '"Come out 
from among them and be ye separate 
from them and I will receive vou. saieth 
the Lord." 



We are under special obligations to 
Mr. Edwin L. Harvey of the Metropoli- 
tan Church Association and publishers of 
the "Burning Bush.*' books, etc.. in the 
preparation of this article on the matter 
of the claim that John Wesley and his 
brother. Charles, were Freemasons. We 
take from the Burning Bush the sugges- 
tion of a moving-picture exhibition. First 
it is announced that John Wesley is a 
Freemason which causes the Methodists 
to sit up and take notice. Then the like- 
ness of the founder of Methodism is 
flashed upon the screen in Masonic re- 
galia at which the audience shows great 
;-atis faction. Then suddenly the screen 
announces that a great mistake has been 
made and there is a sudden chill which 
drops the temperature to zero when the 
picture of the real John Wesley, an Irish- 
man, is shown. 



September, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



135 



FOR THE EDIFICATION OF METHODISTS. 



As reported in the public press there is 
to be an international gathering of Meth- 
odists in London this month. The com- 
mittee in sending out notices to the dele- 
gates from the M. E. churches of this 
country asked that each delegate advise 
the committee whether or not he is a 
Mason and if one, what his position is in 
the lodge. The only reason given for this 
most extraordinary request is that Ma- 
sonic delegates are to be invited to visit 
the Masonic lodge in London of which 
John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, 
is supposed to have been a member. What 



other reasons there may be in the minds 
of the managers of the conference for 
tabulating the Masonic delegates is un- 
known. The re-publication from Meth- 
odistic and other sources of the fact that 
John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, 
never was a Mason — facts not hidden 
from Methodist leaders — shows the awful 
declention spiritually of the leaders of 
the church since the days of Wesley, 
when they seek a balm for their love of 
a worldly and anti-Christian institution 
by defaming the great and godly John 
Wesley. 



Wesley 







was a 

FREEMASON 
5> 



m 



:- ♦ >» 



& 




METHODISTS MINISTERS AT THE MOVIES. 



WESLEY, A MASON: OR, SOME 
HEADWINDS TO METHODIST 
PRIDE. 
In the Northwestern Christian Advo- 
cate for May 14, 1913, we read the fol- 
lowing : 

"John Wesley, a Mason. 
'"Editor, Northwestern Christian Advocate: 
"This will be news to most of the readers 



of the Northwestern. However, the statement 
is based on the following S me time during 
the winter of 1911-12 there appeared in the 
Christian Work and Evangelist, an artiele on 
Charles Wesley by Gilbert Patten Brown of 
Boston in which he made the statement that 
Charles Wesley, like his eminent brother, 
John, was a member of the noble order of 
Masonry. 1 wrote him for data in regard to 



136 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



September, 1921 



this statement and he replied by saying, 'I am 
very busy, but will say that Charles Wesley 
visited the celebrated Lodge of Nine Sisters 
in Paris. Have not time to look up my data 
to see when he was made, but John Wesley 
was made in 1788, first degree, July 7 ; second, 
October 3; third, October 13, 1788, St. Pat- 
rick's Lodge No. 367, at Donpatrick, Ireland. 
Fraternally, G. P. B., historian.' 

"A few months ago I wrote him for more 
data on the subject if he could furnish it, and 
he sent me the following : 'In the Grand 



sider the final and conclusive word upon 
the subject. In their July 16, 1913, num- 
ber, we read: 

"It is sometimes stated that Wesley became 
a Freemason, but that is a mistake based on 
the fact that a 'John Wesley' was initiated in 
the lodge at Downpatrick in October, 1788. On 
the dates mentioned in the register, Wesley 
was not in Ireland, and the signature (of 
which a facsimile is given by W. J. Chetwode 
Crawlev, LL. D., in his 'Notes on Irish Free- 




THE THERMOMETER SHOWS GREAT HEAT ENTHUSIASM. 



Lodge of Ireland is a record that Lodge No. 
367 made John Wesley a Mason. In record 
book from 1784 to 1793 at folio 115. This 
lodge is now out of existence. — Gilbert P. 
Brown.' 

"I submit this to the readers of the North- 
western for what it is worth. 

"J- J a Y Dugan." 

"Springfield, 111." 

Later and upon better authority, the 
Methodists find that Wesley was not a 
Freemason and they give what they con- 



masonry') is not John Wesley's. Dr. Craw- 
ley's pamphlet gives, by the way, the facsimile 
of two signatures by the future Duke of Wel- 
lington in 1790 and 1794 where he signs his 
name, 'A. Wesley.' 

"Arthur Wallington. 
"Methodist Book Room, 

25 City Road, London, E. C." 

Passing Strange. 
It may appear to the unsophisticated 
reader of this modern Methodist "wis- 
dom," passing strange that the people of 



September, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



137 



this great denomination should he so 
deeply interested in the attempt, first to 
prove, and secondly, to disprove, that 
Wesley was a Freemason. Of course, if 
it could have been shown that Wesley 
was a member of that lodge, this fact 
would act as a gentle soothing-syrup to 
lull every Masonic Methodist to sleep in 
his sin of lodgery ; and yet, somewhere, 
hidden in the subconscious nature of the 
Methodist people there appears to be a 



Wesley became a Freemason; the foun- 
der of Methodism did not. So much 
for the paradox. Now for the Metho- 
dists and their attitude toward it. 
The Puff of Pride. 
Picture the puff of pride in the Meth- 
odist preachers and janitors and ordinary 
laity who are members of the Masonic 
fraternity when they read that John Wes- 
ley was a Freemason, as stated in the 
issue of the Advocate for May 14. Then 



'-"'tiV. 



'e be$ to announce 

mm^ that John Wesley % 

£g£+he FREEMASON -M 

SS was not the founder 33 

©F METHODISM, but M 



' ^n Irish ^enrlemon 



>> 



*i?.'AXi 



7 %£Sr~who lived af about" 



ml 
M 




A SUDDEN CHILL. 



certain pride which is gratified at learn- 
ing that Wesley was not a Freemason. 
Strange ! and perhaps contradictory. 

Well, at any rate, two facts are clearly 
demonstrated by the foregoing, showing, 
first, that Wesley was a Freemason ; sec- 
ondly, that Wesley was not a Freemason. 
A puzzling paradox and a dubious dilem- 
ma' for modern methodist! (Pardon our 
allusive alliterations.) The fact of the 
matter is this ; An Irishman named John 



the July t6 number comes and the afore- 
said puff is dissipated, for not the 
founder of Methodism but an Irishman 
bearing the same name was a Freemason. 
What peculiar sensations must creep over 
the rlesh of these advertisers of and 
gloriers in John Wesley's supposed Ma- 
sonry when they learn that he was not a 
Freemason at all but that an Irishman 
who lived about the same time has been, 
unconsciously to them, the subject of 



138 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



September, 1921 



their advertising and glorying. — The 
Burning Bush, October 2, 1913. 



WAS CHARLES WESLEY A FREE- 
MASON? 

We have the statement of Gilbert Pat- 
ten Brown of Boston that Charles Wes- 
ley visited the celebrated lodge of Nine 
Grandmothers — no, "Nine Sisters in 
Paris." Was this Charles Wesley a 
Frenchman, or a Hindoo, or a native of 
Zululand?- Mr. Brown is "very busy. 
Have not time to look up my data." Per- 
haps this is the case of another Irishman. 



"EPHESIANS, 5:11." 

"And have no fellowship with the un- 
fruitful works of darkness." 

Comments by John Wesley. 

Whatever it costs, flee spiritual adul- 
tery ! Have no friendship with the 
world. Thy life is at stake ; eternal life 
or eternal death ! Oh, come out from 
among them, from all unholy men, how- 
ever harmless they may appear, and be 
ye separate. — Wesley's Sermons, Vol. 2, 
p. 204. 




GOOD NIGHT ! 



WERE THE WESLEYS MASONS? 

"John Wesley, the great founder of Meth- 
odism, was an enthusiastic Mason. He was 
initiated in Downpatrick Lodge, No. 30, of 
Ireland. His almost equally great brother, 
Charles Wesley, the sweet poet singer of his 
church, was also a member of the institution, 
and at one time occupied the exalted position 
of chief organist of the Grand Lodge of Eng- 
land." — Masonic Sun. 

The Christian Advocate of New York, 



of February 28, 1884, contained an ar- 
ticle headed, 'Was John Wesley a Free- 
mason ?" 

'This question is suggested to us," 
says the Christian Advocate, "by the fol- 
lowing somewhat amazing paragraph in 
the Press, of Philadelphia, of February 
2nd, last : 

"Rev. D. W. Bull, of Transfer, Mercy 
County, has some interesting relics of 



L. 



September, 1921 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



139 



Jorrn Wesley, the founder of Methodism. 
They consist of lodge dues paid, Royal 
Arch Masonic apron, receipts of lodge 
dues paid by Wesley to the lodge of 
. which he was a member, extending over 
a period of some fifteen years, and a 
number of books from Wesley's private 
library containing his autograph. The 
Masonic apron is- 153 years old. These 
relics were purchased by Rev. Mr. Bull's 
grandfather at the public auction of 
Wesley's personal effects after his 
death." * * * 

"Here are several questions : Was there 
a public auction of Wesley's personal 
effects after his death? We doubt it. 
His will disposed of everything he had. 

Wesley's Will. 

" 'I give the books, "furniture and whatever 
belongs to me in the three houses at Kings- 
wood in trust to Thomas Coke, Alexander 
Mather and Henry Moore, to be still em- 
ployed in teaching and maintaining the children 
of the poor traveling preachers. 

" T give to Thomas Coke, Dr. John White- 
head and Henry Moore all the books which 
are in my study and bed chamber at London 
and in my studies in trust for the use of the 
preachers who shall labor there from time to 
time. 

" T give the coins and whatever else is 
found in the drawer of my bureau at London 
to my granddaughters, Mary and Jane Smith. 

" T give all my manuscripts to Thomas 
Coke, Doctor Whitehead and Henry Moore, to 
be burned or published as they see good. 

" T give whatever money remains in my 
bureau and pockets, at my decease, to be 
equally divided between Thomas Briscoe, 
William Collins, John Easton and Isaac Brown. 

" 'I desire my gowns, cassocks, sashes and 
bands may remain in the chapel for the use of 
the clergymen attending there. I desire the 
London assistant, for the time being, to divide 
the rest of my wearing apparel between those 
four of the traveling preachers who want it 
most; only my pelisse I give to the Rev. Mr. 
Creighton ; my watch to my friend, Joseph 
Bradford; my gold seal to Elizabeth Ritche. 

" T give my chaise and horses to James 
Ward and Charles Wheeler, in trust, to be 
sold and the money to be divided, one-half to 



Hannah Abbott and the other to the members 
of the Select Society.' 

"Is it reasonable to believe that such 
relics, if they existed, would have been 
sold at auction ? Every relic he had was 
desired by his friends. By every pre- 
sumption there was no public auction of 
John Wesley's effects. That his receipt- 
ed bills should have been sold — a part of 
his story — is absurd beyond belief. 

"So far presumption. Enough if there 
were no more. 

"We shall now proceed to prove the 
story false by Wesley's own words. See 
Wesley's works, volume 4, page 398; 
Friday, June 17, 1773. T went to Bally- 
mena and read a strange tract that pro- 
fesses to discover "'the inmost recesses of 
Freemasonry," said to be ''translated 
from the French original, lately pub- 
lished at Berlin." I incline to think it 
is a genuine account. Only if it be, I 
wonder the author is suffered to live. If 
it be, what an amazing banter upon all 
mankind is Freemasonry ! And what a 
secret is it which so many concur to 
keep ! From what motive ? Through 
fear, or shame, to own it?' 

"Any person with a grain of reason 
can see that John Wesley knew nothing 
whatever of Masonry. Xo more thor- 
oughly absurd yarn was ever spun — 
whatever may be the mistake that gave 
rise to it." — Christian Advocate, New 
York. 



FROM ECHOES. 



The time is coming when it will take 
more than a stuffed head, a long-tailed 
coat and a white necktie to make a 
preacher. 

* * * 

The devil will promise you the world, 
but he doesn't own a grain of sand. 

* * * 

The more education a man has, the 

more he needs the power of God. 



140 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



September, 1921. 



^M 1 1 i 1 1 1 1 ) 1 1 1 1 ! 1 1 1 1 1 f 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 S 1 1 1 1 1 M 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 i 1 1 ■ 1 1 9 1 1 1 1 1 1 9 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 fe 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 E 1 1 1 1 1 E 1 1 1 ! i 1 1 ^ 



L. 



The Question of the Hour 



By E. E. FLAGG 

AUTHOR OF 

"flolden With Cords." 



riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinri 



CHAPTER XIV. 

(Continued.) 

But even as the last words left Nelson's 
lips an unwonted sound from the streets 
of Jacksonville caused them both to start. 
Above the roar and yells of the mob 
came the sharp and simultaneous report 
of firearms. In the melee one of the 
strikers had drawn his knife, seriously 
stabbing a policeman, and the men of 
law, tired of using their clubs, had at last 
opened fire on the rioters. 

Matthew Densier was not an unfeeling 
man. With a pallor in his face and a 
shiver through his limbs he turned to 
Nelson. 

"You've come down on me hard, but I 
don't think any the worse of you for it. 
God knows I would have given my right 
hand not to have this happen." 

"I believe it, Mr. Densier," said Nel- 
son, earnestly. 

At that moment employer and em- 
ployed had a much better understanding 
of each other than ever before. 

The riot was soon over. The mob 
melted away in confusion, leaving two 
of their number prostrate on the pave- 
ment — one stone dead, the other breath- 
ing faintly, but shot through a vital part. 

They carried him into the works, it 
was the nearest place, and made him as 
comfortable as possible for the few hours 
of life which remained to him. 

The streets were soon quiet — abnor- 
mally quiet. Business and pleasure were 
alike suspended. All sorts of wild stories 
were flying about, rumors of wholesale 
incendiarism were in the air, and many 
of the citizens formed themselves into 
armed bands to patrol the streets till day- 
break. Lodge-ruled and saloon-ridden 
Jacksonville was beginning to eat the 
fruit of her own doings. 

Just as Nelson, seeing that the danger 
was over for the present, was about to 
leave his place of refuge, a summons 
came for him to hasten with all speed to 
the side of the dying man. 



"His name is Schumacher," said the 
messenger, in response to Nelson's in- 
quiry. "He's seemed awful restless and 
uneasy — 'pears to have something on his 
mind like." 

Socialist and infidel though he was, 
Nelson had always felt a certain liking 
for Schumacher as a man capable of bet- 
ter things, and he felt shocked and 
grieved. 

He found him lying on his hastily im- 
provised couch, with his eyes closed and 
the pallor of death upon his face; but 
when Nelson approached he opened them 
and said, faintly: 

4 T want to see you alone." 

The standers-by respected his wish and 
withdrew. In the presence of this soul 
going into eternity, even curiosity to 
know what he had to say to him grew 
dormant in Nelson's mind. The rough 
room, the dimly-burning lamp, which 
happened to be so placed that his own 
figure was cast in grotesque outlines on 
the wall, all seemed to waver and shift 
before him like the figures in a dream, 
while with straining ears he listened to 
the dying man, who spoke in faint but 
distinct whispers. 

"I made that machine for blowing up 
the works. I didn't put it in the build- 
ing. I don't know who did. But I never 
thought of their accusing you. On my 
soul I didn't." 

"Let that all go," said Neson, sooth- 
ingly ; for on the whole he was not much 
surprised at the revelation. "Had you 
meant to injure me I should have for- 
given you all the same, for I hope I am 
a Christian, and as it is there is nothing 
to forgive. It is against God and your 
fellow-men that you have sinned." 

"But I had to do it. I must tell you 
that. We were detailed. Each one had 
his share in the job, and if we had re- 
fused or let on, it would have been 
death." 

Horror-struck, Nelson listened. He 
had read of the Nihilists, Invincibles, and 



September, 1021 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



141 



Black Hand, but always with a faint and 
far-off kind of interest as something that 
did not and never would directly concern 
him. Yet right here in Jacksonville there 
was, according to Schumacher's state- 
ment, a secret organization which, what- 
ever might be its name, was modelled 
after them, both in purpose and methods 
of working. 

"That isn't all," he added, speaking 
with a strange, feverish energy. "We've 
got our list of marked men — obstruc- 
tionists, we call them. Matthew Dens- 
ler is one ; you are another. Last night 
we held a meeting and drew lots. We 
don't go by our own names, we go by 
numbers. The red paper with your name 
on it was drawn by No. 10. I am No. 

10." 

Nelson gasped for breath. He felt a 
horrible sense of suffocation, and then a 
sudden wave, half of pity, half of in- 
creduility, rolled away the nightmare 
feeling sufficiently for him to speak. 

"You never would have taken my life, 
Schumacher. I don't — I can't believe it." 

"I was bound by my oath. to do it or be 
killed myself. That's a kind of tight 
place to put a man into. But now you 
must go away from Jacksonville ; there's 
no other way. I couldn't die without 
warning you. You must go — go — 
quick/' 

The dying man sank back exhausted 
by the effort of speaking. Nelson hastily 
summoned the physician and watchers. 
"A stimulant was administered and he 
partially revived, but his mind seemed 
to wander. The words he uttered were 
not coherent,, only one several times re- 
peated sounded like "mother." He was 
l3ack in his childhood's home with his 
parents, simple, Bible-loving German 
Christians, who never dreamed when the 
old Lutheran pastor sprinkled the bap- 
tismal drops on his infant brow that 
their only son would be left to wander 
in the dark mazes of infidelity. 

And how did it come about ? Through 
association with the atheistic, communis- 
tic leaders of a secret labor union. And 
the same process is going on all over our 
land today ; the subtle poison is being 
silently injected through the myriad 
Christ-excluding lodge worships that are 
paraded in the newspapers and defended 
by unthinking, Christian people as 



nothing but harmless benefit societies. 
Poor Schumacher had only become a 
convert to the universal religion of 
Masonry that puts the Bible, the Koran 
and the Vedas on the same level; and if 
to him Christ was only a great spiritual- 
ist medium, a mere man, of wonderful 
powers but perfectly to be accounted for, 
let not that minister or church member 
who offers strange fire at altars where 
the very mention of that Holy Name by 
which he is called is forbidden, cast the 
first stone at this bewildered and de- 
ceived workingman who simply followed 
out to their logical conclusions the doc- 
trines taught in every Masonic or Odd- 
fellow lodge. 

Suddenly he opened his eves with a 
gleam of consciousness. 

"It is dark," he muttered, "dark, 
dark!" 

"Do you want a minister sent for?" 
inquired the doctor, who thought it 
about the right thing to propose, though 
he had no great faith in ministers, being 
himself a believer in the same "universal 
religion." 

But he shook his head, and his eye fell 
on Nelson with a look of supplication. 
Over that sandy foundation of nega- 
tives on which he had built his faith, or 
rather no faith, were fast rushing the 
cold waters of death — fierce, inexorable, 
hungry for their prey. 

Nelson was a Christian man ; he knew 
that imploring glance was directed to 
him. He must say something. Slowly 
and distinctly he repeated that precious 
text, which, while the world stands, shall 
be as a beacon light flashing far out over 
the dark sea of eternity : 

"God so loved the world" — Nelson's 
heart was tender with his own recent 
practicing of the God-like grace oi pity. 
and perhaps for that reason he threw 
into the familiar words, all unconscious- 
ly to himself, a deeper pathos and power 
—"God so loved the world that he gave 
his only begotten Son. that whosoever 
believeth in him should not perish, hut 
have everlasting life." 

Over the. face of the dying stole a 
strange calm: whether the calm of dis- 
solving nature or the peace which pass- 
eth ali understanding, who shall say? 

A moment's labored breathing, and 
Schumacher, infidel and socialist, lay 
dead. 



142 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



September, 1921. 



L 



CHAPTER XV. 

A MODERN PUBLICAN. 

We will now visit quieter scenes. 

Fairfield is rejoicing in a flourishing 
Farmer's Grange, and though Israel 
Deming's trial of "the machine" had not 
been altogether satisfactory, none of the 
sanguinary results which Uncle Zeb's 
comparison had seemed to dimly predict 
have yet happened. As for Dora, she has 
found the grange precisely what she want- 
ed and expected — a field for new con- 
quests over the hearts of her rustic ad- 
mirers, as well as a most advantageous 
theater for the display of her pretty 
features, and all those general feminine 
bewitchments which ever since the Fall 
have beguiled the foolish Adams of our 
race. 

Uncle Zeb sometimes slyly inquired 
with an inward chuckle "if the machine 
was working well." 

"Beautifully," broke in Dora on one 
of these occasions, addingly saucily, "You 
needn't ask father. He hasn't got his 
mind made up yet." 

Mr. Deming laughed and gave her rosy 
cheek a playful pinch. 

"I believe a good frolic is all you young 
folks care about." 

."We were all young ourselves once," 
sagaciously observed Uncle Zeb. "T re- 
member the husking parties I used to go 
to when I was a boy almost as well as 
though the last one only happened yester- 
day. And I remember the hogsheads of 
New England rum they used to tap when- 
ever there was a bee or a raising or any- 
thing of that kind. How the times have 
altered. It does beat all. Our minister 
used to preach rousing sermons on elec- 
tion and foreordination and the eternal 
sovereignty, and I re'ly think he was a 
good man, but he used to like his glass of 
toddy as well as anybody, and it's a fact 
now — I've known him in his parish visits 
to take so much at the different places he 
went to that when he come to go home 
he couldn't walk straight. Talking about 
that makes me think of what Deacon 
Wetherby told me today about Snyder 
that keeps that doggery over to the east 
part. He's got converted. 

"You don't say so," responded Mr. 
Deming. "Well, well ; that's good news, 
if k is true," he added with a little touch 



of doubtfulness, which perhaps he ought 
not to have felt, considering how many 
times he had read the story of Zaccheus 
the publican. 

"Oh, there ain't a bit of doubt," briskly 
responded Uncle Zeb, who could gossip 
about anything — a conversion or a revival 
as soon as a marriage or a death. "Dea- 
con Wetherby says it makes him think of 
Saul of Tarsus to hear him a praisin' and 
a prayin'. And you know he was one of 
the lowest kind of critters before. And 
sez I, 'Deacon, that shows we ain't to 
despair of the most miserable sinner that 
walks the earth. The Lord's mercy ain't 
straightened.' And the Deacon, he jest 
grasped my hand and sez he, 'Uncle Zeb, 
I feel like goin' around and singin' 
"Amazin' grace" all the time since I 
he'erd on't.' " 

Dora had slipped away while this con- 
versation was in progress. We must con- 
fess the truth — neither temperance nor 
religion were to this young damsel very 
attractive themes. She hated the sight 
and smell of rum, and as for rumsellers, 
they were a miserable, degraded set, and 
drunkards' wives and children — why, they 
were to be pitied of course. But as she 
generally ended by putting all such 
thoughts out of her head as soon as pos- 
sible, the reader will perceive that no very 
great drafts were made on her sympa- 
thies. She was glad in a general way 
that that wretched Snyder was going to 
quit rumselling and lead a better life. 
Why couldn't everybody be good and re-, 
spectable? It would be so much easier 
for themselves and better all around. 

The deep, solemn problems of human 
existence, that mystery of sin and misery 
under whose weight creation groans and 
travails, she either passed over entirely or 
touched w r ith the same ignorant lightness 
with which a butterfly might be supposed 
to sun its wings alit on a page of mathe- 
matical diagrams. 

This modern publican wa3 no other 
than Peter Snyder, who, since he was 
cast out from Jacksonville, had wandered 
through dry places seeking rest, and find- 
ing an empty shanty in a part of Fair- 
field where he could ply his trade with- 
out much risk of molestation, he had 
taken possession thereof and set up what 
was ostensibly a small grocery store, but 
where the initiated could obtain at any 



September, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



143 



hour of the day or night the very vilest 
brand of liquor in the market. 

It is decidedly pleasant to look upon 
one's self as persecuted in a good cause. 
Peter Snyder considered himself a mar- 
tyr to the doctrine of personal liberty, 
but we must confess that he showed very 
little of the martyr meekness. If, during 
his stay in Jacksonville, he had seemed 
possessed of an evil spirit to seduce and 
destroy, like the man in the parable, that 
evil spirit had returned to him since he 
settled in Fairfield intensified sevenfold. 
He had always sold rum for a living and 
he meant to sell it ; and every bothering, 
fanatical fool, who, as he pathetically ex- 
pressed it, "was trying to ruin a poor 
man's business," he consigned in no gra- 
cious terms to the adversary of God and 
men, with whom, judging from the fre- 
quency and freedom with which he used 
his name, Mr. Peter Snyder seemed to 
be on very intimate terms. 

But why should the candid reader ut- 
terly condemn this poor, nineteenth-cen- 
tury publican -for his resolution. He had 
the government permit to sell liquor. 
Why shouldn't he sell it? We are told 
in Holy Writ that earthly governments 
are God's viceroys ; and if, standing in 
the place of Eternal Justice, Eternal 
Purity, Eternal Love, they dare to license 
that which is the cup of death to soul and 
body, to put bitter for sweet and sweet 
for bitter, darkness for light and light 
for darkness, is it strange that in the 
minds of the governed, especially that 
class who, like Mr. Peter Snyder, are not 
in the habit of making nice moral distinc- 
tions, there should exist some confusion 
of ideas. Why is it right for the nation 
to sell rum and wrong for the individual ? 
And if rumselling is right, why may not 
some other things be right too? It is 
from the class of minds thus taught to 
question that the socialist will always 
make the readiest converts to his doctrine 
of dagger and dynamite. Congressmen, 
legislators and "all in authority" from 
the Chief Executive to the local magis- 
trate, can you afford to run the fearful 
risk that every government must run 
which makes right and wrong mere 
rhetorical terms by licensing iniquity, and 
then joining as an active partner by 
taking to itself 90 per cent of the profit? 
Is it not warming in its own bosom the 



serpent's eggs which in time will hatch 

the cockatrice of anarchy and revolution ? 

(To be continued.) 



CEREMONY OF BAPTISM 
in the 
ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED SCOT- 
TISH RITE. 

The following ceremony, called Masonic 
Baptism, is frequently performed in Europe 
and has recently been generally adopted in 
the United States. Palm Sunday has been 
designated as the day to be observed here- 
after for this service in San Jose, Cal. 



MASONIC BAPTISM. 

(Concluded.) 

W. M.: Brother Master of Cere- 
monies, let these children that are to be 
baptized be now brought to the altar of 
baptism. 

The Master of Ceremonies conducts the 
children, their parents, godfathers and god- 
mothers to the East, and places them in front 
of the pedestal, or table, on which are the 
water, oil, and salt. In front are the mothers 
and fathers, bearing or leading the children, 
according to their age, and behind them the 
godfathers and godmothers. If there are sev- 
eral children, they should be arranged in a 
semicircle facing the pedestal or table. 

The Master comes down from the throne, 
stands upon its steps, and says : * * * 

W. M. : My brethren, the most glow- 
ing words are inadequate to express the 
love and admiration which we ought to 
feel toward our Father in heaven. 

He lights the three vessels of incense on 
the three small triangular tables in front of 
the East, and then proceeds to the pedestal 
or table, and says : 

W. M.: Before the voting initiate- 
could enter into the Temple's of the 
Mysteries, our ancient brethren required 
him to wash his hands in pnre water, a- a 
symbol and pledge of his innocence, of 
the sincerity of his intentions, and of the 
present and future purity of his soul. 
From them it has come down to us, a 
custom venerable by its antiquity, the 
legacy of the remote past, known and 
practiced in the Orient centuries before 
John the Baptist came preaching in the 
wilderness, or even before Solomon laid 
the foundation of the Temple of God. 
Let none here mistake it for a religious 
ceremony, or accuse us of irreverence. 

Beginning on the left of the line, he learns 
the name of each child, takes it in his arms. 
if it be an infant, and with the right hand, if 
it be able to walk, carries or leads it to the 
pedestal, and lifts its left hand into a basin 



144 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



September, 1921 



of perfumed water, saying, as he does so: 

W. M. : C. E., I wash thee with this 
pure water. May God give thee, and 
maintain thee in. that innocence and pur- 
ity of heart of which this cleansing is a 
symbol. 

He then returns the child to its parents, and 
proceeds in the same manner with the next, 
until all are baptized. Then, he takes in his 
hand the vessel of perfumed oil, goes to each 
in turn, beginning as before on the left, and 
dipping the little finger of his right hand in 
the oil, marks on the forehead of each a 
Delta, saying, as he does so : 

W. M. : With this oil of anointment, 
emblem of fruitfulness and plenty, I set 
upon thy forehead the Delta, the symbol 
of the wisdom, might, and love of the 
Deity. May he be pleased to make thee 
fruitful of all good works. 

\\ "hen he has thus annointed all, he replaces 
the vessel of oil on the table or pedestal, and 
then, standing in front of it and facing the 
children, stretches out his hands toward them, 
and says : 

W. M. : May the blessing of our 
Father in heaven rest upon you, my chil- 
dren. May you never know the bitter- 
ness of want, or the remorse that follows 
crime; the loneliness of a life without 
love ; the midnight agonies of bruised and 
suffering hearts; the miser's dream of 
gold ; ambition's hungering for greatness ; 
the quenched light of a broken spirit; 
the sense of deadly and undeserved 
wrong; affection trusting and betrayed; 
or the abiding curse of weariness of life. 
And may our heavenly Father comfort, 
encourage, and uphold you amid the dis- 
appointments, the sufferings, and the 
trials of life; amid its fevered cares and 
sad diseases; in all losses of friends by 
death or unworthiness ; in all dangers and 
temptations. And may he in his great 
love and mercy pardon and forgive all 
your frailties or errors, temper the wind 
to the shorn lamb, and gather you into his 
fold of heaven. Amen. 

All; So mote it be. 

W. M.; Brother Master of Cere- 
monies, reconduct these children, with 
their parents, to their seats. 

The children are reconducted, with 
their parents, to their seats on the plat- 
form ; the godfathers and godmothers 
take their seats among the audience. As 
soon as they are seated, the following ode 
is sung; 



A little spring had lost its way, 

Amid a grassy fern, 
A passing stranger scooped a well, 

Where weary men might turn. 
He walled it in, and hung with care 

A ladle at the brink; 
He thought not of the deed he did, 

But judged that toil might drink. . 

Chorus : 
In generous deeds each may repay, 

A thousand fold our care; 
Each raise a brother from the dust, 

A sister from despair. 

The act we do today is small, 

The issues may be great ; 
We know not on these little ones 

What destinies may await. 

To one, perhaps, its country owe 

Its safety or its fame ; 
The world not willingly let die 

This or the other's name. 

When the ode is concluded, the Master rises 
and says : 

W. M.: Brother Master of Cere- 
monies, invite the godmothers of these 
children to place them at the altar, that 
we may there vow to watch over and 
protect them. 

Each godmother takes her godchild, and 
carries it to the altar of obligation; they place 
them around and close to it — the infants upon 
their cushions on the floor, and the older 
children standing, hand in hand ; then the 
brethren leave their places, the Master comes 
down from the East, and they form a circle 
around the children, and kneel on one knee, 
each with his left hand upon his heart, and his 
right hand raised toward heaven, and the 
Master says : 

W. M. ; My brethren, repeat after 
me: 

Vow. 

All: We solemnly vow and promise 
that we will watch over and protect these 
children until they become men and 
women, or so long as they or we live, or 
it continues in our power to do so. We 
will guard them against danger and 
temptation ; against the violence of the 
bad, the wiles of the crafty and malig- 
nant, and the lures of those who love to 
corrupt youth and ruin innocence. We 
will help, aid, and assist them if they fall 
into need, strive to reclaim them if they 
err, forgive them is they repent, instruct 
their inexperience, reprove their faults of 
omission or commission, and teach them 



September, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



145 



to be good and virtuous, not only by oUr 
precepts, but by our example; and may 
our Father in heaven help us to keep this 
vow. Amen. 

The Master rises, takes the vessel of salt, 
returns, kneels again, and says: 

W. M.: When the wild Arab of the 
desert has tasted salt with his guest, that 
guest is sacred to him, even if his hands 
are red with the blood of the father or 
son of his host. Let us, by the same 
pledge, seal our vow of fidelity to these 
children that we have now . taken under 
our protection, and let our promise be as 
inviolable as that of the rude Bedouin. 

He places a little salt on his tongue and 
says : 

W. M. : With this salt I confirm my 
vow. 

Then he passes the salt to his hrother on the 
right, who places some on his tongue, saying 
the same, and so it passes around the circle. 
When it returns to the Master, he takes it and 
all rise; then he puts a little of the salt on the 
lips of each of the children, and afterwards 
says : 

W. M. : And whenever any of these 
children, who have now tasted this salt 
of inviolable faith, or any one in their 
behalf, shall call upon us to aid them in 
need, distress, or danger, this solemn 
pledge shall be redeemed. To your seats, 
my brethren, but let the godfathers of 
these children remain with their parents. 

Except the godfathers and the fathers of the 
children, the brethren repair to their seats. 
Then the Master gives to each godfather a 
small apron, perfectly triangular, of white 
lamb-skin, with a triangular flap permanently 
turned up, and the flap and apron edged with 
narrow blue ribbon, with a cord of blue silk, 
tasselled, but with no ornaments or devices 
on it whatever, and says to them : 

W. M.: My brethren, invest now 
these young children with the apron, 
emblem of that labor to which man is 
destined by our Father in heaven ; and in 
doing so we pledge ourselves diligently 
to remind them, whenever occasion 
offers, that every Mason, and indeed 
every man, should lead an active and 
laborious life. And now every one, no 
matter what sex, rank, condition, or for- 
tune, is bound to contribute his or her 
contingent toward the accomplishment of 
the great work, and to supply at least one 
ashlar toward the rebuilding of the 
Temple. 

The godfathers invest the children with the 
aprons, and immediately the following verses 
are sung ; 



Standing still is childish folly, 
Going backward is a crime. 
None should patiently endure 
Any ill that he can cure. 
While a living wrong remains 
To be conquered by the right ; 
While oppression lifts a finger 
To affront us by his might; 
While an error clouds the reason 
Of the universal heart, 
Or a nation longs for freedom, 
Action is the wise man's part. 

When these verses have been sung, the 
Master hands each godfather a jewel for his 
godchild— a Delta of silver or gold, each side 
of which measures an inch, with the letter 
Yod on one side, engraved in the centre, and 
round it the Pentacle of Solomon, and on the 
other side a five-pointed star, and in the center 
a Tau Cross. 

The jewels are suspended to a narrow blue- 
ribbon by- a small ring at one apex of the 
Delta. Each godfather hangs the jewel on 
the breast of his godchild, passing the ribbon 
over his neck, the Master saying as he hands 
them the jewels : 

W. M.: Invest your godchildren my 
brethren, with these jewels, the gift of 
the lodge. The Delta is the symbol of 
the Deity, its three sides reminding us 
of his all-knowing wisdom, his almighty 
power, and his all-embracing love. The 
letter in the centre on one side is the 
initial of his ineffable name, and the 
symbol of his unity. The Tan Cross is 
the Egyptian symbol of immortality. The 
mysterious meanings of the interlaced 
triangles on the Pentacle of Solomon, 
and of the five-pointed star or the Pen- 
tapha of Pythagoras, are known to us as 
Masons. Teach them in due time that 
his jewel ever reminds them of their duty 
to God and their fellow-creatures. 

As soon as the children are invest with the 
jewels, the following verses are intoned : 

Onward! — there are ills to conquer; 
Daily wickedness is wrought : 
Tyranny is served with pride. 
Bigotry is deified. 
Error intertwined with thought : 
Vice and misery ratnp and crawl; 
Root them out! their day is past, 
Goodne-s is alone immortal. 
Evil was not made to last. 

Onward! and all earth shall aid us, 
Ere our peaceful flag he furled; 

Masonry at last shall conquer, 
And its altar be the world. 



146 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



September, 1921 



After these verses are sung, the Master 
gives each godmother the locket, bracelet, or 
ring, as the case may be, for her godson or 
goddaughter and says : 

W. M. : Accept, my sisters, for your 
godchildren, these little presents from 
the Lodge. Let them wear them as tok- 
ens of our affection ; and whenever they 
need the protection or assistance of the 
Lodge, let them send to it the gift we now 
make, and the appeal will never be inef- 
fectual. 

The godmothers put the ornaments in the 
proper place on their godchildren. * * * 

T \Y. M, : In the name and under the 
auspices of the Supreme Council of Sov- 
ereign Grand Inspectors-General of the 
thirty-third and last degree, I proclaim 
these children to be purified by Masonic 
Baptism, and anointed with the Oil of 
Consecration to Masonic duty. Proclaim 
it along your columns, brethren Senior 
and Junior Wardens, and charge all Free 
and Accepted Masons (or all Grand, 
Elect, Perfect and Sublime Freemasons, 
Ancient and Modern) over the surface 
of the two hemispheres, to know and 
acknowledge tham as such ! 

S. W. : Brethren of my column, hear 
ye ! I proclaim these children to be puri- 
fied by Masonic baptism, and anointed 
with the Oil of Consecration to Masonic 
duty, and I charge all, etc. 

J. W. : Brethren of my column, etc. 

W. M. : Brother Master of Cere- 
monies, conduct these, and those in whose 
charge they are, to thir seats. 

This being done : 

W. M.: Join me in the plaudit, m} 
brethren. 

The brethren, with the Master, rap three 
times three and cry three times, "Huzza !" 
"Huzza!" "Huzza!" each time striking the left 
shoulder in front with the palm of the right 
hand; then the Master raps once and all seat 
themselves. He then says : 

W. M. : Brother Orator, the floor is 
yours. 

The Orator pronounces a discourse suitable 
to the occasion. 

The Master then requests the godfathers to 
address the assembly. 

Address of a godfather. 

After which he may request any distinguished 
brother present to do so. 

After the address the Master requests two 
young ladies, if any are present, to pass the 
box of fraternal assistance. He counts and 



declares the amount contributed, and sends it 
by the Master of Ceremonies to the Treasurer, 
with the proper directions, unless some brother 
moves that it be given to some particular 
brother who is in need, in which case the 
Lodge determines. 

This done, the Master says : 

W. M. : The labors of the day are 
concluded. May they be profitable unto 
us all ! Go in peace ! and may our Father 
in heaven bless and prosper us in all our 
laudable undertakings ! Amen. 

W. M. : I declare this lodge at re- 
freshment. Brother Junior Warden, it 
remains in your charge. 



RITUAL BROTHERHOOD OF RAIL- 
WAY CLERKS. 

In use of gavel and for other purposes, * 
indicates one rap; ** two raps; *** three raps 

and so on. indicates a pause. Thus 

* ** indicates a rap, a pause, then two 

raps ; ** ** two raps, a pause and two 

raps and so on. 

Sections or paragraphs marked "1" may be 
omitted at the option of the lodge. 

INSTALLATION CEREMONY. 

(The installing officer will call the 
lodge to order and appoint a member as 
Grand Sergeant-at-Arms. The Secretary 
will furnish the Grand Sergeant-at-Arms 
with a list of the officers-elect. The Grand 
Sergeant-at-Arms will call the roll of 
officers-elect, who, as their names are 
called, will take their places about the 
altar.) 

(Any Grand Lodge officer, the retiring 
President, or any Past President can 
act as installing officer.) 

Grand Sergeant-at-Arms : Grand Pres- 
ident, the officers-elect are at the altar 
awaiting your pleasure. 

Grand President: Officers-elect, you 
have been chosen by your fellow members 
to high and honorable positions in this 
lodge, and from them you receive author- 
ity to rule and govern the lodge ; and as 
some must rule and some must obey, it 
becomes those who rule to avoid any ap- 
pearance of partiality. On the other 
hand, the membership at large should 
render that willing obedience which is due 
to the officers they have placed in posi- 
tions of authority. 

Officers-elect, you will place your right 
hand over your heart in token of your 
sincerity, and repeat after me the obliga- 
tion of office, pronouncing your name in 
full where I use mine. 



September, 1921 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



14; 



I, . . . ., in the presence of the members 
here assembled, do most solemnly and 
sincerely promise and declare that I will 
honorably and faithfully perform, to the 
best of my ability, the duties of the office 
to which I have been elected. I will act 
with strict impartiality in all matters per- 
taining to my office and see that every 
member receives justice. I will not take 
part directly or indirectly in any illegal 
transaction, or suffer it to be done by 
others if in my power to prevent it. I 
will obey the Constitution and Laws of 
the Brotherhood and the By-laws of the 
lodge. I will obey all orders coming to 
me from the constituted authorities of the 
Brotherhood and will do all that lies in 
my power to advance its welfare. For 
the faithful observance of all these sev- 
eral points I hereby pledge my word and 
honor. So help me, God. 

Grand President : * Grand Sergeant- 
at-Arms : Grand President, I beg to 
present Brother (or Sister) and Brother 
(or Sister) who have been elected Outer 
and Inner Guard of this lodge. 

Grand President : Guards, it is your 
duty to safely guard the doors of the 
lodge and suffer none to pass or repass, 
except such as are duly qualified, or by 
permission of the President. Grand Ser- 
jeant-at-Arms, conduct these officers to 
their respective stations there to guard 
well the outer and inner doors. 

Grand President : Grand Sergeant-at- 
Arms, escort the Sergeant-at- Arms-elect 
to his station. 

Grand Sergeant-at- Arms : Grand Pres- 
ident, I beg to present Brother (or Sis- 
ter), who has been elected Sergeant-at- 
Arms of this lodge. 

Grand President : Brother (or Sister) 
Sergeant-at-Arms, it is your duty to see 
that all present at the opening of the 
lodge are in possession of the passwords, 
to receive and conduct all candidates for 
initiation and perform such other duties 
as may be required by the President or 
by the lodge. Grand Sergeant-at-Arms, 
escort the Brother (or Sister) to the 
proper station. 

Grand President: Grand Sergeant-at- 
Arms, escort the Chaplain-elect to this 
station. 

Grand Sergeant-at-Arms: Grand Pres- 
ident, I beg to present Brother (or Sis- 



ter) who has been elected Chaplain of 
this lodge. 

Grand President: Brother (or Sister ) 
Chaplain, it is your duty to invoke the 
Divine blessing upon this lodge, set a 
good example to the members, visit the 
sick and administer to their comfort and 
assist the President at funerals. Grand 
Sergeant-at-Arms conduct the Chaplain 
to his (or her) station. 

Grand President : Grand Sergeant-at- 
Arms, conduct the Secretary, Financial 
Secretary and Treasurer-elect to this sta- 
tion. 

Grand Sergeant-at-Arms: Grand Pres- 
ident, I beg to present Brothers (or S 
ters) . . . ., .... and . . . ., the Treasurer, 
Financial Secretary and Secretary-elect 
of this lodge. 

Grand President: Brother (or Sister) 
Treasurer, it is your duty to safely guard 
all funds of this lodge and pay all legal 
orders drawn upon you out of such funds 
and to keep a true and correct account of 
all transactions. Brother (or Sister) 
Financial Secretary, it is your duty to 
collect and receive all moneys due the 
lodge and pay the same over to the Treas- 
urer at each meeting of the lodge, taking 
a receipt therefor ; keep a true and cor- 
rect account between the lodge and its 
members, make such reports as are re- 
quired by the lodge, and perform such 
other duties as are required of you by 
the laws of the Brotherhood or the by- 
laws of this lodge. Brother (or Sister) 
Secretary, it is your duty to keep true 
and correct minutes of all meetings, 
nothing extenuate, naught set down in 
malice, to conduct the correspondence for 
the lodge, to have and safely keep the 
seal, using it only on the official corre- 
spondence of the lodge, to draw all war- 
rants when ordered by the lodge, to make 
the reports and returns required by the 
Grand lodge, and to do such other duties 
as the laws of the Brotherhood and of 
this lodge may require. Brothers (or Sis- 
ters) or Brothers and Sisters, the offices 
which you have just assumed are second 
to none in their importance, and upon 
your integrity and uprightness de- 
pends the welfare of the lodge. There- 
fore, be faithful and true and when your 
terms of office have expired may you 
merit from vour fellow members the sen- 



148 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



September, 1921. 



timent expressed in these words, ''Well 
done, thou good and faithful servant.'' 
The Grand Sergeant-at-Arms will now 
escort you to your stations in the lodge 
where you will enter upon the discharge 
of your duties. 

Grand President: Grand Sergeant-at- 
Arms, escort the Vice-President-elect to 
this station. 

Grand Sergeant-at-Arms : Grand Pres- 
ident, I beg to present you Brother (or 
Sister) who has been elected Vice-Presi- 
dent of this lodge. 

Grand President: Brother (or Sister) 
Vice-President, it is your duty to assist 
the President in preserving order, and in 
his (or her) absence or disability, to per- 
form to the best of your ability the duties 
of presiding officer, and such other du- 
ties as may be required by the laws of 
this Brotherhood ; you will now be escort- 
ed to your station, there to enter upon 
the discharge of your duties. 

Grand President : Grand Sergeant-at- 
Arms, present the President-elect of this 
lodge. * * * 

Grand Sergeant-at-Arms : Grand Pres- 
ident, I beg to present to you Brother (or 
Sister) . . . ., who has been elected Presi- 
dent of this lodge. 

Grand President: Brother (or Sister) 
..... it has pleased the members of this 
lodge to elect you to the highest office in 
their gift; your duty as its chief execu- 
tive will, at all times, be very onerous, 
requiring from you great patience and 
tact. Your duties call upon you to pre- 
side over this lodge, to fearlessly admin- 
ister the laws of the Brotherhood, to be 
just to all, be loyal to the members, set 
them an example of obedience to the con- 
stituted authorities of the Brotherhood, 
for they rule best who have learned best 
to obey, and upon your fidelity and skill 
the welfare of your lodge largely de- 
pends. I commit to your keeping the 
Charter of this lodge; cherish and pre- 
serve it : the Rituals are also committed 
to vour care, for the safe keeoine of 
which you are personally responsible. 
Take the Constitution and Laws of the 
Brotherhood as your guide and instructor 
and now I surrender into your keeping 
this gavel, which is the emblem of your 
authority. May it never sound in vain. 
I take great pleasure in proclaiming you 



President of this lodge. Worthy Presi- 
dent, your officers are at their respective 
stations awaiting your pleasure ; enter 
upon the discharge of your duties by 
seating the lodge. And now, by the 
power vested in me by the Constitution 
and Laws of the Brotherhood of Railway 
Clerks, I declare the officers of this lodge 
duly and legally installed. 

(To be continued.) 



HOW THE SHRINERS BEHAVED IN 
DES MOINES. 

BY G. H. F v DES MOINES, IOWA. 

The National Convention of the No- 
bles of the Mystic Shrine was held in 
Des Moines, Iowa, on June 14th to 16th, 
inclusive. The citizens of this communi- 
ty made great preparations to welcome 
the conclave. It was announced through 
the daily papers that the Shriners would 
spend at least $3,000,000 here by the time 
they were ready to leave. But the people 
were in for a rude awakening. Aside 
from the hotels and taxicab companies 
the trade for the various lines of business 
fell far below the regular amount usually 
spent on those days of the week. 

The financial disappointment, however, 
was the smallest item to consider. The 
Shriners brought in hundreds of quarts 
of liquor in plain violation to State and 
National laws. It is said that a Shriner 
could go into the basements of the two 
largest hotels in this city and get all the 
liquor desired free of charge. As a re- 
sult thousands of Shriners became more 
or less intoxicated and Des Moines saw 
scenes of drunken debauchery which had 
never been witnessed on such a wholesale 
scale in the city's history. No decent 
woman was free from insult on any of 
the main downtown business streets. 
Scores of women, both young and old, 
married and single, were forcibly seized 
and forced to submit to various degrading 
insults and humiliations. Some were 
'forced into automobiles and taken for 
long rides even out into the country, to 
be taken home at all hours of the night 
to distracted husbands or parents. Others 
were seized arid forced to dance out in 
the middle of the street. Dozens of 
women were seized and had ice water 
poured down the inside of their waists, 
both front and back. 



L_ 



September, 1921 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



149 



Even at their places of employment 
women were not safe. Younker Brothers 
and other department stores were invaded 
and the female employes were carried out 
on the shoulders of Shriners, some of 
whom were gray-haired men. One young 
lady employed in Younker Brothers was 
forced to sit on a counter and submit to 
having her shoes and stockings removed 
by maudlin Shriners. Hundreds of other 
girls were compelled to submit to having 
their faces painted with rouge and then 
kissed by Shriners. 

Another favorite "sport" of these thir- 
ty-second degree Masons was to stop 
women with escorts on the street and 
order the escort to kiss his companion. 
In case of the man's refusal the woman 
was kissed by a number of half-drunken 
Shriners. One of the Shriners went 
around carrying a leg taken from a fe- 
male store window dummy, and his de- 
light was to approach women and make 
obscene remarks concerning the similarity 
between the artificial leg and the leg of 
the woman whom he happened to be ad- 
dressing. Several others went around 
with rolls of toilet paper in their arms 
calling out "Evening Papers" and throw- 
ing hands ful of paper into the faces of 
women and girls. Other unmentionable 
acts were committed in the presence of 
crowds of respectable women. 

One may ask, "Why did not the police 
interfere?" There are at least two ex- 
planations. In the first place they were 
practically powerless in the presence of 
25,000 or more Shriners. In one or two 
instances where individual policemen did 
try to interfere to protect women they 
were instantly overpowered and carried 
a block or two away. In the second place 
the police were given to understand that 
the Shriners were not to be interfered 
with, but were to be allowed to have "a 
good time." 

Nothing has taken place in Des Moines 
in years that has so completely disgusted 
and angered the big majority of the de- 
cent people of this city. If the Shriners 
were to hold another convention here it 
is confidently predicted that they would 
receive anything but a warm welcome 
from the citizens who believe in law and 
order and decency. 

June, 192 1. 



FRATERNITIES AND SORORITIES. 



An Indictment of the Secret Society in High 

School Life and an Outline of Remedies 

Applicable to a Growing Evil. 



BY HAROLD J. HOWLAND. 

(For Ten Years a Member of the Edi- 
torial Staff of The Outlook, and Xow 
Associate Editor of The Independent.) 
What shall the suburban community 
do with the school fraternity ? For more 
than a decade the problem has faced 
school authorities, teachers and parents. 
Many solutions have been tried with 
greater or less success. But the problem 
remains a problem — obstinate, if not 
acute. x 

The indictment against the secret fra- 
ternity and the secret sorority, as they 
exist in public schools, contains several 
counts. Some counts receive more em- 
phasis in some parts of the country than 
in others ; but the main case against secret 
societies is substantially the same every- 
where. It has been summed up by an 
educator who has had experience with 
the problem in widely separated parts of 
the country: 

"Moral and Social Effects. — School 
fraternities and sororities (1) are un- 
democratic in nature, factional; (2) tend 
to create cliques and a 'caste' spirit; (3) 
tend to create wrong standards of excel- 
lence ; (4) inculcate undue self-impor- 
tance, and a spirit of injustice to non- 
members; (5) tend to set examples of 
social extravagance; (6) tend to destroy 
the spirit of unity in a school and to in- 
troduce an element of manipulation and 
of 'privileged control.' 

"Physical Effects. — Fraternities and 
sororities (1) are liable to degenerate into 
mere idling places, 'loafing clubs,' where 
harmful habits are formed; (2) under 
such conditions, tend to dissipate energy 
and weaken ambition; (3) by social de- 
mands increase the strain upon the pupil's 
health and strength. 

"Intellectual Effects. — Fraternities and 
sororities (1) offer many distractions 
from study; (2) tend to lessen scholarly 
work." 

The indictment is a serious one. Of 
the -truth of many of its counts most ob- 
servers do not need to be convinced. 

School fraternities are undeniably un- 
democratic. They involve the segrega- 



150 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



September, 1921. 



tion of small groups, the members of 
each of which become easily and natural- 
ly convinced of their own superiority to 
the common herd. This is a serious mat- 
ter. In this democratic country of ours 
what we constantly need is not less 
democracy, but more. A great student 
of the life of nations was profoundly 
right when he declared that "the remedy 
for the evils of democracy is more 
democracy." Of the evils that attend 
democracy we have our full share. Of 
the remedy we need an ever-increasing 
measure. We must get it in the years to 
come through the youth who are now 
passing through their formative period. 
We must train them to be democrats, to 
eschew any suggestion of caste, to be 
broad in their sympathies, catholic in 
their appreciation of their fellows. 
Nothing is more un-American than snob- 
bishness. There is no question that in 
this direction lies the one great danger 
of the system of school fraternities. 

The second proposition is that frater- 
nity life takes too much time and energy, 
to the serious detriment of other and 
more important activities. Young people 
who are growing and getting acquainted 
with life and acquiring the equipment of 
education and training with which they 
are to tackle life itself, have their hands 
about full. It is all too easy to drain off 
their energy by ill-considered recreations, 
by too strenuous a social life, by ex- 
travagant and elaborate pleasures. Fra- 
ternity life undoubtedly tends in this 
direction. The secret society is essen- 
tially a social institution — in the narrow- 
er sense of the word. It naturally lends 
itself to indoor gatherings rather than to 
outdoor life; to evening meetings, rather 
than to daytime gettings together. Boys 
do not join a fraternity to play football 
or girls a sorority to play basketball. 
Neither of them would select a secret so- 
ciety as the best medium through which 
to go skating or to tramp over the coun- 
try. The mystery which is a normal and 
essential accompaniment of these organi- 
zations could hardly be successfully main- 
tained if the meetings took place on the 
athletic field or in the gymnasium, or else- 
where in the public eye. Young people 
have enough of indoor life and of seden- 
tary life in their school hours. They 
need recreations that take them out-of- 



doors, that make them use their bodies 
and set their blood to racing. Here again 
the fraternity and the sorority are headed 



in the wrong direction. 



In some communities drastic measures 
have been taken, but this is generally 
where the evil has grown to the most, 
serious proportions. In towns and cities 
where the high' school fraternities have 
become little imitations of the college 
fraternities, with chapter-houses of their 
own, drastic measures' were really neces- 
sary. School boards have tried to legis- 
late directly at the system. They have 
decreed that no pupil belonging to a secret 
society shall continue in the school or, 
in some cases, that any pupil so belong- 
ing shall have no part in school acivities 
outside of the classroom. In several 
states such regulations have been tested 
in the courts and the right of the school 
authorities to take such action has been 
established. 

But do not we, parents, guardians, 
teachers and adult sponsors for the wel- 
fare of our young folks, make ourselves 
ridiculous by invoking the law to keep 
them in order? Think of the spectacle 
presented when a group of infants — to 
use the legal term in this legal connection 
—hale their elders into court to compel 
them to let the young folks pursue their 
pleasures in their own way. Doubtless 
such a spectacle tells us much that is un- 
fortunate about the young people in the 
case. But it tells us much more that is 
unfortunate about the grown-ups in the 
case. 

The problem of the school fraternity is 
not an isolated one. It is a part of the 
much more extended, and therefore much 
more serious, problem presented by the 
highly developed social life of the young 
people of today. 

When luxurious motor cars, with 
skilled and obedient drivers, are at the 
disposal of our children, not only to take 
them to and from school but to dash 
them about town and country when school 
is over; when the school boy apes the 
college man in dress, in manner and in 
such personal indulgences as the cigarette 
and the pipe; when the school girl out- 
does the gayest of society ladies in the 
narrowness of her skirts, the absence of 
her petticoats, the thinness of her stock- 



L. 



September, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



151 



ings, and, in general, the elaborateness 
of her toilet; when these things are r it is 
certain that we have been going too far 
in one direction. Dances, not only fre- 
quent but lasting into the small hours, 
are not the best accessories to productive 
school work and normal, healthy growth. 
Our young people, like ourselves, spend 
too much money, dress too elaborately, 
live at too high a pressure, cultivate too 
much the Epicurean indulgences and too 
little the Spartan self-denials. 

Let me stop right here to say that I 
am by no means one to wag a gray beard 
and raise protesting hands to heaven over 
the decadence of the present days. There 
were just as many shortcomings, just as 
deplorable tendencies, in our youth. But 
they were not the same shortcomings, nor 
the same tendencies. The world is better 
than it ever has been. The suburban 
community is a better place to live in than 
it ever was. 

But the world is very human. It must 
have its fads. It cannot help but dash off 
every now and then on an tangent, flying 
from its appointed path, until the cen- 
trifugal force of thirst for novelty and 
love of the unusual is overcome by the 
essentially stronger centripetal force of 
sanity and sound common sense. Our 
present fads are largely social, finding ex- 
pression in the cost of high living, the 
intensity of our pleasure-seeking, the ex- 
travagence of our dressing, and our play- 
ing. 



The fraternity activities of our young 
people are only a single phase of our 
present day faddistic tendencies. We will 
get over them as we will get over the 
other phases. But we will get over them 
more quickly and safely if we put our 
minds to it and try to strengthen the 
centripetal forces that pull upon our 
youth. 

What can we do to resist the tangential 
motion and help to bring school life back 
to more normal paths? What can we 
do about the school fraternity problem? 

Negatively, we can refrain from un- 
dertaking to use the machinery of the 
law for solving a problem which is essen- 
tially social in its nature. Parents cannot 
afford to hale their children to court to 
keep them out of mischief. If there were 
no other reason, it is too much of a con- 



fession. Nor can parents — not individu- 
ally, but as a community — put themselves 
in a position where their children will 
hale them to court, to contest their, right 
to regulate the activities of the young 
folks. 

Positively, there are three directions in 
which effort may be wisely exerted 

The influence of the college fraternities 
may be called into play. Already two of 
them have in their national gatherings put 
themselves on record as opposed to re- 
ceiving into membership any young men 
who are already members of high-school 
fraternities. College life gains nothing 
from having its peculiar activities antici- 
pated in the life of the school boy and 
girl. 

The school authorities may do much, if 
they set about it wisely, to mitigate the 
detrimental aspects of the fraternity and 
the sorority. But they would do well to 
be wise as the serpent in the doing. A 
frontal attack is probably the worst pos- 
sible strategy in dealing with the younger 
generation. In a school I know', where 
fraternities exist apparently free from 
many of the evils that accompany them 
elsewhere, the authorities do two things. 
They do not attack the societies, but they 
refuse to give them any recognition, offi- 
cial or otherwise, in school affairs. The 
activities of school life are so developed 
and regulated as to leave small place for 
fraternity influence. The political influ- 
ence of the societies, loudly deplored else- 
where, is minimized by the adoption of 
the most improved and progressive meth- 
ods in holding school elections. The 
Australian ballot, surrounded with strict 
safeguards, makes profitable electioneer- 
ing by fraternity groups improbable. 



The other method which i^ adopted is 
the elaboration of useful and wholesome 
activities involving the whole school. Par- 
ticipation in athletics is generalized in- 
stead of specialized. Not one football 
team, engaging a handful of pupils, but 
a dozen are in existence. 

A student council, whose members, 
working in committees, regulate the 
manifold activities of school life outside 
of the curriculum ; a school magazine : a 
school bank, where the pupils deposit real 
money and get real interest I incidentally 
at a higher rate than they can get at a 



152 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



September, 1921 



savings bank) ; these are but a few of 
the methods by which the life of the 
pupils is kept full and their education in 
the fine art of living with their fellows is 
carried on outside the classroom. There 
is not too much time or energy left for a 
strenuous social life. The best way to 
keep mankind, young or old, out of bad 
business is to keep it busy in good busi- 
ness. It is the empty life that tends to 
fill up with unwholesome activities. 

But, in the last analysis, this is essen- 
tially a parents' problem. We cannot 
pass our responsibilties on to anyone 
else. The teacher, in addition to per- 
forming his special function of imparting 
instruction, can only supplement the in- 
fluence of the home, not replace it. If we 
do our whole duty toward the young 
people of our own household, the prob- 
lems which the school and the community 
will have to solve will be tremendously 
simplified. We must stop spoiling our 
children. We must give up more of our 
time to them. We must educate ourselves 
so that we can direct their activities into 
sane and wholesome channels instead of 
vibrating between careless ignorance of 
their life and stern disapproval of the 
ways that our ignorance and our indiffer- 
ence have permitted them to fall into. 

The solution of the fraternity problem, 
which, as I have said, is only one phase 
of a much more extensive problem, be- 
gins home. And there is no ready-made 
solution which I can offer. The ingre- 
dients for the solution are to be found in 
an accentuated sense of parental respon- 
sibility, in a keener interest in the every- 
day life of our young people, in a filling 
of their lives fuller with healthy and 
wholesome activities, and in a large in- 
fusion of every-day common sense. 

Suburban Life, Jan., 1914. 



MASONIC CHIPS. 

BY B. M. HOLT, EX-SECRETARY PIERSON 
LODGE NO. 169, BARNESVILLE, MINN. 

At the Grand Lodge of Maine (1919) 
the following resolution was adopted: 

"That smoking or the appearance of 
smoking in the lodge hall, or in the prep- 
aration room, when in use for the prep- 
aration of candidates, in . this Grand 
Jurisdiction, is hereby forbidden." 

In commenting thereupon, Past Grand 
Master Louis Block, of Iowa says: 



"I wonder what they mean by 'the 
appearance of smoking?' Do they, per- 
chance, puff at rattan rods, or blow 
clouds from cornsilk cigarettes?" — 
Grand Lodge Proceedings, Iowa, 120, 
page 90. 



Masonry denies that they solicit the 
membership of the "profane," yet, some- 
how, people do join the order. The peti- 
tion (application blank) of the applicant 
for Masonry represents, himself as "un- 
biased by the improper solicitation of 
friends," he "offers himself as a candi- 
date for the mysteries of Masonry" 
(Ritual). 

What is meant by "improper solicita- 
tion" ? "Worshipful" G. Soule said in 
the Grand Lodge of Louisiana, 1917: 
"A critical interpretation or analysis of 
this sentence casts by implication an 
odious reflection on Masons. * * * 
If the soliciting of a worthy man for 
membership is to be considered improper, 
then I think the custom should be 
changed." — Grand Lodge] Proceedings, 
Oklahoma, 191 8, page 248. 

Masonry arrays itself in gorgeous cos- 
tumes and glittering jewelry and builds 
temples of marble and granite, and men 
like T. R. Patton of Pennsylvania be- 
queath $13,000 to the Grand Lodge "for 
the training of male orphans as Masons." 
— Proceedings Grand Lodge of Iozva, 
1920, page 180— all this of course is 
proper solicitation. 

The truth is that Masonry, by its cun- 
ning arrangements for tempting people 
to become members of the lodge, becomes 
itself an "improper" solicitor. 



In speaking before the assembly at 
the laying of the cornerstone of the 
Masonic Temple to be erected at Georgia 
and Colorado Avenues, N. W. Washing- 
ton, D. C. (1919), Grand Master Joseph 
H. Milans said: "This implement, the 
gavel, employed by me in the work of 
this day, is the identical instrument used 
by our Brother George Washington in 
the laying of the corner-stone of the 
United States Capitol. It has become a 
sacred treasure of Masonry." — Grand 
Lodge Proceedings, District of Colum- 
bia, 1919, (page 24). 

A Lutheran pastor, from Pennsyl- 



September, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



153 



vania, not long ago boasted of belonging 
to a Masonic lodge that used this "iden- 
tical instrument," and I sometimes won- 
der if the "relics" of Washington will 
not soon receive the same superstitious 
attention and multiplications which is 
true of the Catholic church's relics. It is 
said that this church has the thigh-bone 
of Saint John displayed in twelve differ- 
ent places. 

"When Washington died at Mt. Ver- 
non, his personal relics began to come 
into the lodge, and the floor space being 
very limited they were put in another 
room, and in 1871 a fire destroyed that 
building and his personal relics to the 
value of about $5,000,000 were lost. 
What are left are now in possession of 
Alexandria- Washington Lodge at Alex- 
andria, Virginia and have a valuation of 
nearly $2,000,000." — Deputy Grand 
Master W. S. Seipp, Grand Lodge Mary- 
land, Proceedings Grand Lodge of Iowa, 
1920, page 146. 

Seven million dollars worth of Wash- 
ington relics!! If Washington, himself 
could return here, how dumfounded he 
would be at the multiplicity of his so- 
called "relics" and other forgeries in his 
name. 



"A strange thing happened on Febru- 
ary 22nd" 1919, says a speaker at the 
New Jersey Grand Lodge, "when the 
George Washington National Masonic 
Memorial Association was celebrating in 
Alexandria Washington's Birthday as 
a Mason, six miles away mass was being 
said because he was a Catholic." — Pro- 
ceedings Grand Lodge Iowa, 1920, page 
147. 



There are in spite of all the high- 
sounding verbiage about Masonic univer- 
sality and solidarity "uniting men of all 
creeds and countries," two classes of 
human beings that cannot legally be made 
Masons. One is the Negroes, the other 
is the Catholics. 



more in keeping with the spirit and faith 
of the twentieth century. Our present 
ritual service is cold, stilted, formal, 
and comfortless. 

"Our service that should bring some 
ray of comfort and hope, has too often. 
brought a deeper sense of sorrow and 
despair. Let us have a form that will 
give expression to the true Masonic 
faith in the immortality of man, the 
supporting, protecting, and comforting 
power of an ever present and loving God. 
Then indeed shall the trembling lips of 
the widow and orphan tell us how blessed 
is the sacred ministry of Masonry. "- 
Proceedings Grand Lodge Iowa, 1920, 
page 101. 

How can an organization whose relig- 
ious teachings are Christless and there- 
fore without hope for the life eternal, 
offer a funeral ceremony that does any- 
thing but bring about "a deeper sense of 
sorrow and despair." No change in the 
wording of the burial service will alter 
the spirit of this vital defect. 



The Massachusetts Jurisdiction of 
American Masonry has two hundred and 
fifty-six local lodges in that State, and 
four in China, and three in Chile, and 
six in the Canal Zone. — Grand Lodge 
Proceedings Iowa, 1920, page 107. 



Says Past Grand Master G. W. Baird. 
District of Columbia: "The Grand Mas- 
ter [of Delaware, 1913,] issued a decree 
forbidding the reception of a petition for 
the degrees from any person except of 
the United States. It seems to us this is 
getting away from first principles. La 
Fayette and Pulaski, Revolutionary char- 
acters were not citizens of the United 
States." And they were were good 
Masons. — Proceedings Grand Lodge Dis- 
trict of Columbia, 1919, page 393. 



Jletos; of ®uv WBovk 



Says Grand Master L. M. Abbott, 
Maine: "I am convinced that we should 
no longer delay the providing of some 
funeral or burial service that will be 



Our National Convention is to be held 
this year in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The 
Sherman Street Christian Reformed 
Church, Rev. R. B. Kufper, pastor, has 
been freely offered, and a strong local 



154 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



September, 1921 



committee appointed with Mr. R. Van 
Noord, 45 Eastern Avenue, as chairman. 

Rev. George Shaw of Wilkinsburg, 
Pennsylvania, is an author and teacher of 
unusual ability. President Charles A. 
Blanchard of Wheaton College has a na- 
tional reputation. Rev. John F. Heem- 
stra, the beloved president of our Asso- 
ciation, is an able representative of the 
Reformed Church in America. Rev. Geo. 
W. Hylkenla, a very effective helper of 
the Cause in Chicago and one who will 
be especially welcomed by students. The 
above are the speakers of the two evening 
sessions. The afternoon session will be 
given to testimonies from seceders and 
others. In the College and Seminary 
Glee Clubs and in the strong church 
choirs there is an abundance of material 
to be drawn upon for music. 

You will also enjoy seeing Grand Rap- 
ids. It is not yet a hundred years since 
the first permanent white settler built his 
home there. It is now one of the finest 
residential cities in the West. And there 
are public parks supervised so that there 
is a playground for every child within 
one-half mile of his home. No other city 
of its size has so many churches or so 
large a church going population. There 
are said to be over thirty strong anti- 
secret churches in this city of 150,000 
people. 

Besides these churches we count as our 
friends and supporters the professors and 
students of Calvin College. It will 
strengthen their courage and faith to see 
a good delegation at this Convention of 
earnest men and women from all parts of 
our country. 

Will not you be one to stand with us 
and be counted at this time when so much 
can be accomplished by having the largest 
and most influential convention in years? 
Write for any information that you may 
need to Secretary Wm. I. Phillips at his 
office, 850 West Madison Street, Chicago, 
Illinois, and advise him of your intention 
to be present. 



L 



We are encouraged and helped in more 
ways than one by letters of appreciation 
for what the National Christian Associa- 
tion has been to them through its maga- 
zine, tracts and lecturers. And this is the 
basis of the demand for continued finan- 



cial support — the work done and to be 
done. 

Just now our special needs grow out of 
our expenses on account of our National 
Convention at Grand Rapids, Michigan, 
on the 28th and 29th of this month. We 
not only need your prayers but your ma- 
terial support. 

Do not forget the CYNOSURE EN- 
DOWMENT now being sought. Help 
what you can and pray for Divine guid- 
ance and blessing on the Special Agent, 
Mr. George Anderson. 

There is also the Ministerial Tract 
Fund from which we are seeking to bear 
a testimony to every pastor in the United 
States. 

The future of the work is also planned 
for by the Annuity Bonds issued by the 
Association to those who must have an 
income from their means during life. 

The following form of bequest may be 
useful to some : 

I give, devise and bequeath to the Na- 
tional Christian Association, a body cor- 
porate in the State of Illinois, County of 
Cook, and City of Chicago, the following 
described property, to wit : 



Secretary Wm. I. Phillips spent a few 
days in Nebraska last month. He had a 
pleasant and profitable interview, he 
thinks, with Rev. Clarence Weston, Rev. 
Titus Lang and Mrs. Lizzie Woods Rob- 
erson, all of Omaha. 

. Not so much was accomplished as he 
had hoped, because so many were absent 
on vacations or for other reasons. There 
are seven churches in Benson, Nebraska, 
and not one pastor could be found in the 
whole little city. 



EASTERN SECRETARY'S REPORT. 

BY REV. W. B. STODDARD. 

My work during the month past has 
been in the central district of Pennsyl- 
vania and in eastern Ohio. ' Friends have 
been found and opportunities for lec- 
tures have been given as in other years. 
Lodge people as usual are in evidence 
everywhere. 

At Cleveland, Ohio, I noticed a num- 
ber in fantastic garb, red caps with tas- 
sels, running about much after the fash- 
ion of children playing in the back yard. 
They were not at work. Perhaps they 
were enjoying themselves! They likely 



September, 1921 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



155 



did not know how foolish they appeared 
to the soberminded. 

While in Lancaster County, Pennsyl- 
vania, I spoke in Mennonite Churches at 
Mechanics Grove and New Providence. 
At Fairland, Lebanon County, my ad- 
dress was in the Church of the Brethren 
in Christ. July 24th I spoke in the 
Brethren in Christ Church, Mechanics- 
burg, Pennsylvania, in the morning and 
in the "Slate Hill" Mennonite Church in 
the evening. At Chambersburg, Penn- 
sylvania, my address was in the King 
Street Radical United Brethren Church. 
A day was spent at the Free Methodist 
camp meeting, Washington, D. C. These 
meetings all contributed to the cause. Our 
Washington, D. C, Free Methodist 
friends are to be congratulated on 
the fine location and support they have 
obtained for their camp. The spiritual 
tide ran high and there were a number 
of converts. All, of course, get out or 
stay out of the lodges. 

The unusual happened at Youngstown, 
Ohio. Calling at the home of our good 
friend, Rev. E. A. Boehme of the Luther- 
an Church, the president of the Ladies' 
Aid Society came with an invitation that 
I address the ladies gathered in parlor 
inside. I was introduced to about fifty. 
Information relative to lodge work was 
given and a vote of thanks received. As 
the ladies are voting now it is especially 
important that they be informed regard- 
ing the lodges that would separate them 
from their husbands. They surely would 
not vote, for any such. At a teachers' 
meeting at North Lima, Ohio, conducted 
by Bishop A. J. Steiner, I made the ac- 
quaintance of helpful friends. Circum- 
stances did not favor the present holding 
of meetings desired at Columbiana, Lee- 
tonia and other Ohio points. 

Sabbath, August 7th, was spent in Can- 
ton, Ohio. The attendance at the Men- 
nonite Mission in the morning was un- 
usually large owing in part to the ex- 
pectation that "Preacher Derstine" would 
give the address. He was detained and 
the writer profited by his popularity in 
the attendance. Our meeting in the eve- 
ning was with Wesleyan Methodist 
friends who are enjoying the new church 
building into which they have recently 
moved. Our work is always welcome 
there. 



Rain prevented attendance at a meeting 
planned for the country near Wadsworth, 
Ohio, but I found opportunity after a run 
to Cleveland to return and give two 
messages later. Weather conditions 
favored. Attendance was cheering. In 
connection with the evening service, a 
farewell prayer service was held for a 
Brother Kreider who is leaving for work- 
in Syria in connection with the Near I 
Relief Association. At Louisville, Ohio, 
an aged brother who knew the United 
Brethren Church before the division glad- 
ly subscribed for the Cynosure that he 
might thus aid the Cause. He com- 
plained that his pastor neglected the pray- 
er and other church meetings that he 
might "ride the goat," as he expressed it. 
His Odd-Fellow companions seemed to 
have greater attraction than those of the 
church. This is another evidence that the 
liberal U. B. Church is reaping as it has 
sown. A young U. B. pastor who later 
became a Bishop in the Liberal U. B. 
Church said to the writer before the divi- 
sion that the desire was to get lodge peo- 
ple in the church that they might teach 
them the truth and get them to leave the 
lodge. The church, he said, will never 
give up its testimony against the lodge. 
I told him such doing would result in 
conditions as they appear today. The 
law of cause and effect does not change. 
All honor to the "Radicals" who are seek- 
ing to maintain the standard raised by the 
founders of this church body. I am 
headed West with the thought of helping 
the Nebraska work next month, return- 
ing to catch lectures desired in Chicago, 
Illinois ; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and other 
points in Wisconsin. 



"LIZZIE WOODS' LETTER." 

Omaha, Nebraska. 
Dear Cyni >SURE : 

The meeting at Waco, Texas, was 
great! We held meetings there in [915 
and the people are still anxious to hear 
the Word of God. The white and col- 
ored people came by the thousands and 
each day I taught more than four hun- 
dred women. When I told of the sin oi 
secret orders a few oi the women said 
they had left their lodges but that their 
husbands were keeping up their dues. 1 
said, well you might just as well vat the 
devil as to drink his broth. We read 



156 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



September, 1921. 



L 



Deuteronomy 13:6-11. When we read 
the Scripture several of the women stood 
up and said we will go and see that our 
names are taken off of the lodge book. 
I said. yes. go and have your names re- 
moved from the record for the lodge 
keeps your name to influence others to 
come into the Devil's trap. 

Elder C. H. Mason, who was in the 
audience, then stood up and said: This 
church does not affiliate with any secret 
work of the Devil because most secret 
orders require the shedding of blood if 
you do not remain true to their secrets, 
and this church is averse to war and 
blood. There are the Masons, the Ku 
Klux Klan, the Black Star, the Odd- 
Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, the 
Knights of Columbus, the Elks, the Owls, 
the Big Dogs, the Unions, the Night 
Riders, the Woodmen, the Frogs, and all 
the other heathen worships. If you stay 
in this church you must give up the 
idolatrous worship found in these lodges. 
You say you are in them to get protec- 
tion ! God is our only protection. When 
the riot in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was in full 
sway, Masons shot down Masons ; K. of 
P. shot down his brother K. of P. ; Bap- 
tist shot down Baptist ; and Methodist 
shot Methodist. Why was that done? 
Because their secret oaths bound them to- 
gether to do these things. Black man 
shot the white man, and the white man 
shot the black man and sometimes burned 
him. And then you talk about the 
heathens in Africa. God help my people 
to beat your weapons into plowshares 
and let us do the things that make for 
peace. God has called us to holiness and 
we have gone to whoredom. He has 
called us to peace and we have gone to 
war. The holy people, white as well as 
black, get into these riots because they 
join secret oath-bound societies, because 
that is what makes good men murderers. 
So if we are a God fearing, peace loving 
people we will not affiliate with any- 
thing that is for bloodshed, so all of you 
that belong to them will have to give 
them up. If not, we will withdraw from 
you as we are going to live in peace with 
each other and with our white brother. 
Then God will protect us. I am glad to 
see our sisters withdraw their member- 
ship from the lodges. Then the ladies 
said to me : Sister Roberson, we do not 



go to the lodge halls. I said, no, I don't 
go to the movies and lodge halls ; neither 
do I allow my name to be written on their 
books. St. Paul said, "Help those women 
who labor with me in the Gospel whose 
names are in the Book of Life," Phil. 4 :3. 
This was a great meeting. Many were 
saved from their sin and the lodges. I 
am glad God has some people who will 
fight the wrongs of all men. 

I left Waco, Texas, the 18th of July 
and stopped two nights at Ardmore, Ok- 
lahoma. I gave the Devil a round with 
the Word of God. The eyes of the lodge 
people were opened. Many said that they 
could see that oath-bound secret societies 
are wrong. A man got up in the meeting 
and said: I belong to the Knights of 
Pythias and they take care of their mem- 
bers when they are sick. I said : Yes, 
they swear you over a coffin of bones to 
get you to show mercy to your neighbor 
but Jesus showed us how we should treat 
our neighbor (Luke 10:37). Then we 
read Luke 10 :25 to 37 verse. Now one 
has looked into a coffin full of bones 
with a sword across it, and on his knees 
at that, to do good to his neighbor. He- 
sat down and did not sa^y another word. 
I said the Ku Klux Klan might just as 
well get a charter from the government 
to kill men as you Masons and the 
Knights of Pythias or any other secret 
order. This government is hurting her- 
self when she allows charters to men who 
take the law into their own hands and 
kill and slaughter each other. You black 
men and white men and all others meet in 
your secret orders to plan all of your un- 
lawful deeds. If the government would 
wipe out every secret order in this coun- 
try with the whisky business, we would 
have a better world than this is. The 
preacher would show ever the old prophe- 
cies to the people for these things were 
written for our learning, Romans 15:4. 
Look at the famine coming on us in the 
South and we read Joel 1:1-14. The 
word of the Lord came to Joel, the son 
of Pethuel. Hear this, ye old men, and 
give ear all ye inhabitants of the land. 
Hath this been in your days or even the 
days of your father? Tell ye your chil- 
dren of it and let your children tell their 
children and their children another gen- 
eration. That which the palmer worm 
hath left hath the locust eaten, and that 



September, 1921 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



157 



which the locust hath left hath the canker 
worm eaten ; that which the canker worm 
hath left hath the caterpillar eaten. 
Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and 
howl, all ye drinkers of wine because of 
t'ie new wine for it is cut from your 
mouth, for a nation is come up upon my 
land, strong and without number, whose 
leeth are teeth of a lion and hath the 
check teeth of a great lion. He hath laid 
my wine waste and barked my fig tree; 
he hath made it clean bare and cast it 
away ; the branches thereof are made 
white. Lament, like a virgin girded with 
sack cloth, for the husband of her youth. 
The meat offering and the drink offering 
is cut off from the house of the Lord and 
priests and the Lord's ministers mourn. 
The fields are w r asted, the land mourneth 
for the corn is wasted, the new wine is 
dried up, the oil languished!. Be ashamed, 
O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vine 
dressers, for wheat and for the barley 
because the harvest of the field perished. 
The vine is dried up and the fig tree 
languisheth. The pomegranate tree, the 
plum tree and the apple tree ; even all 
the trees of the field are withered because 
joy is withered away from the sons of 
men. Gird yourselves and lament, ye 
priests. Howl, ye ministers of the altar. 
C r me, lie all night in sack cloth, ye min- 
i ;ters of my God, for the meat offering 
and the drink offering is withholden from 
the house of your God. Sanctify, ye, a 
fast. Call a solemn assembly, gather the 
elders and all the inhabitants of the land 
into the house of the Lord your God, 
and cry unto the Lord. Alas ! for the 
day ! For the day of the Lord is at hand 
and as a destruction from the Almighty 
shall it come. 

I left Ardmore, Oklahoma, for Okla- 
! oma City, where the State Meeting was 
held. I shall tell you about it in my next 
letter. Just as sure as whisky went down 
(.he secret work of the Devil will go. God 
help our President and the Cabinet to 
see the danger. 

Lizzie W. Roberson. 



SOUTHERN AGENT'S REPORT. 

REV. F. J. DAVIDSON. 

Thank God I am still on the King's 
highway contending for the "faith once 
delivered to the saints." During the 
month I have not been very well but yet 



able to continue on the firing line. Mr-. 
Davidson was down and under doctor's 
care for thirty-six days and our baby girl 
was also quite indisposed, but praise God 
our Father, all are up and about. 

Since my last letter I have visited, 
preached and lectured at the First Bap- 
tist Church, Rev. J. Ellis, pastor, St. 
Patrick, La.; Antioch Baptist Church, 
Rev. J: Lewis, pastor, Lutcher, La. ; Firsl 
Mt. Calvary Baptist Church, Rev. J. I',. 
Gaskins, pastor, New Orleans; Amozion 
Baptist Church, Rev. B. Joleceour, pastor. 
New Orleans; Monroe Missionary Bap- 
tist Church, Rev. Stewart, pastor, Gretna, 
La. ; Goodwill Baptist Church, Rev. L. 
Johnson, pastor, Pass Christian. Miss. ; 
St. Paul M. E. Church, Rev. Morgan, 
pastor, Pass Christian, Miss. 

The Louisiana Baptist State Conven- 
tion with a large delegation of ministers 
and laymen held a great meeting with 
Frist Zion Traveler's Baptist Church, 
Rev. E. L. Brown, a high priest in the 
secret empire pastor, this city (Berwick. 
La.). This great body of professed min- 
isters are about 35 per cent members of 
the secret empire although Dr. W. M. 
Taylor, D.D., of Baton Rouge, who has 
been president since 1910, is one of the 
strongest and one of the foremost anti- 
secret ministers in the whole country. I 
did not get a chance to address the body ; 
in fact I was not in good health, but 1 
conferred privately with a number of the 
leading ministers and distributed a num- 
ber of anti-lodge tracts. At each of the 
points named above I was cordially re- 
ceived by the brethren and given freedom 
of speech. 

1 am here at Berwick, Louisiana, with 
Deacon Paul Saunders of Zion Baptist 
Church, where I am billed to preach to- 
night. I go to Patterson, Louisiana, 
from here, where I am slated to preach 
for Dr. |. C. Rochell at New Hope Bap- 
tist Church ; thence to [eanerejte, Louisi- 
ana, where 1 am to conduct a five days' 
Ministers' Institute at Dr. 11. \Y. Cole- 
man's church, thence back here where I 
am to conduct an eight days' revival. 
God willing. While 1 find those who 
make all kinds of frivolous excuses to 
prevent me speaking to their churches, 
yet there are many open doors, but con- 
tributions are always very small, often- 
times not meeting railroad fares, but as 



158 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



September, 1921. 



a rule some are saved from the lodge at 
all my meetings. 

Dr. William Hightower, pastor of Lib- 
erty Baptist Church, Memphis, Tennes- 
see, spent fifteen days in a revival with 
the Central Baptist Church, New Orleans, 
where day and night the whole Gospel 
was declared to a crooked and stiff- 
necked people. Eight were saved out- 
right and four reclaimed, praise the Lord. 
Several lodges have offered to aid Central 
Baptist Church, of which I am pastor, 
declaring their willingness to help me 
ceil and seat and paint the church pro- 
vided I permit them to hold services 
and go through their ritualistic perform- 
ances, but I told them I could not sell 
my birthright like Esau of old for a 
mess of pottage. If the God I serve can't 
provide the means to finish his church, let 
it fail. I shall continue to stand flat upon 
God's word, as said Job of old, "Though 
he slay me, yet will I trust Him." I ask 
the prayers of all of the Cynosure fam- 
ily. I am yours for a pure Gospel church. 



VISITORS AT THE N. C. A. OFFICE. 

Dr. G. A. Pegram of Masontown, 
Iowa, while attending a chiropractic con- 
vention in Chicago, called at our office 
several times. We rejoice with him in 
the fact that he was given a prize for a 
short but helpful talk in answer to a dif- 
ficult chiropractic question brought be- 
fore the assembled delegates. 



Rev. Titus Lang, of Omaha, Nebraska, 
paid us a visit while on his way to the 
Walther League Convention, held recent- 
ly in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Rev. Mr. 
Lang has been giving his people a series 
of lectures on the lodge question. 



It was a great pleasure to receive a call 
from our President, Rev. John F. Heem- 
stra, of Holland, Michigan. We trust 
many of our readers will attend our Na- 
tional Convention in Grand Rapids and 
become personally acquainted with our 
beloved President. 



Another friend and co-worker, Rev. 
W. P. Uhlig, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 
dropped into our office while on his way 
home from the Walther League Conven- 
tion. Rev. Mr. Uhlig has had some in- 



teresting experiences with lodge people 
and left our office with a good supply of 
literature as ammunition with which to 
attack secrecy. 



Mr. Charles C. Nash, a landscape gar- 
dener of Three Rivers, Michigan, spent 
an hour in our office recently. He is 
doing his bit in making our work known 
among his townsfolk. 



Just as copy for the September issue 
was ready for the press, we were pleas- 
antly surprised by having our friend Rev. 
O. F. Engelbrecht of Milwaukee, Wis- 
consin, call at our office. Rev. Mr. Engel- 
brecht is chairman of a committee which 
is to gather information regarding the 
minor orders, this information to be 
placed at the disposal of his church 
brethren to assist them in dealing with 
lodge members and in helping them. Rev. 
Mr. Engelbrecht belongs to the South 
Wisconsin District of the Missouri Synod 
of the Lutheran Church. 

From a pastor in South Dakota we re- 
ceived the following: "The Cynosure 
is fine and contains some comfort for a 
man despised by the world on account 
of fighting sin in every form." 



A BOY'S EXPERIENCE. 

The following interested item appeared 
in a letter to Mr. Phillips from Rev. 
O. F. Engelbrecht, Lutheran pastor in 
Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It pays to in- 
struct the boys and girls regarding the 
evils of secretism and the folly of a Chris- 
tian belonging to secret orders. 

"I am convinced that the best way to 
keep our young people out of lodges is to 
indoctrinate them thoroughly in their 
youth. When they have learned the es- 
sentials of the Christian faith in their 
youth, when they have a working knowl- 
edge of the Bible, the danger of joining 
a lodge is reduced to a minimum. I use 
every opportunity to call attention to the 
difference between the religion of the 
lodge and the religion of Christ. I had 
an experience the other day which was 
very gratifying. One of the boys whom 
I had confirmed a short time ago is a Boy 
Scout. During the summer the Scouts 
usually go out to some resort and spend 
a few weeks in the open. The Scout 



September, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



159 



Master of this particular group to which 
this boy belongs happens to be a Mason 
and he made it a practice to line the boys 
up in their pajamas just before retiring 
and have them pray the Lord's Prayer 
together. There were quite a few Jews 
in that troop. Recently the Scout Master 
'phoned me and said : 

" 'Is there any objection from the 
standpoint of your church to the boys 
praying the Lord's Prayer?' 

"I did not know at first what he was 
driving at. Finally he told me that one 
of the boys of my church had refused to 
join in the Lord's Prayer because he said 
he could not join in prayers with Jews. 
The boy told him that it was an insult to 
his God to join in such a prayer. I had 
quite a talk with the Scout Master and 
the upshot of it was that this boy of mine 
will be excused from those prayers. He 
had told the Scout Master that he would 
give up the Scout work if he were com- 
pelled to join in prayer with the Jews. 
You can see how the Masons train the 
young lads so that they just naturally 
drift into the Masonic or some other 
lodge when they have reached maturity, 
for when boys have practiced promis- 
cuous prayer in the Scout troop, why 
should they object to such prayers in 
the lodge?" 



The following unique and historically 
valuable letter seems to me (Mr. S. C. 
Kimball) to belong to the public: 

, N. H., June 21, 1921. 

Mr. S. C. Kimball, 
Lakeport, New Hampshire. 
Dear Sir: 

A copy of the Christian Cynosure, 
April issue, was recently sent to me. I 
saw your letter ft> the President of the 
United States. I am glad that one man 
had the courage to write him, but I 
doubt if he ever saw it and if he did it 
would probably go into the waste basket. 
I wonder if you have belonged to. the 
Masonic Order. I was a member for 
twenty-five years ; also the Odd-Fellows. 
I found that the Odd-Fellows lodge of 
which I was a member was a lodge to 
protect crime and they will almost kill 
a man if he tries to find out why such 
things are allowed when it is against the 
laws and rules of the Order. I was told 
by men highest in the Order that the 



obligations were just an idle form to 
make an impressive ceremony. I have 
been ruined in business and health by 
members of both orders. 1 was told by 
lawyers that belonged to both orders, 
that if a brother cheats, defrauds or 
steals from me, I must not make a charge 
against him in the lodge for it only makes 
trouble, creates more or less hard feel- 
ings and would have a harmful effect on 
the lodge. But what can one do ? Near- 
ly every public official is a Mason. I 
note that" you are a Republican. I al- 
ways have voted that way. My father 
voted for Abraham Lincoln. 1 was nine 
years of age at that time. Again I thank 
you for writing that letter. 

Yours trulv. 



NATIONAL LUTHERAN COUNCIL. 

BY B. M. HOLT. 

I made a second series of investigations 
into the National Lutheran Council of 
which "the venerable Dr. H. G. Stub" 
has been president and is now an official, 
and my Mason pastor list read, 234 Lu- 
theran pastor Masons when I was 
through. A great many of these are 
leading pastors. Seventy-one of them 
are D.D.'s, Ph.D.'s or L.L.D.'s. etc. 
Many of them have held offices in Ma- 
sonic lodges that required of them to 
teach and exemplify the secret work and 
to administer the oaths ! A former Wor- 
shipful Master (pastor) is now on the 
editorial staff of The Lutheran. Tlu- Ma- 
sonic Lutheran pastors hold such offices 
as: Theology, 3; college professors, 6; 
synodical officials, 17; mission boards, 
26, etc., etc. I have written a complete 
report for Lutheran Sentinel that I hope 
to see in print before long. 

Our pastor at Barnesville (Norwegian 
Synod "formerly") lately held union 
services with an Episcopalian minister 
who openly boasted of his lodge signs, 
and yet the synod pastor arose and plead- 
ed with God to "bless the speaker." \ 
few miles west of here another pastor 
held union services in which a Catholic 
priest also partook. \ could name twenty- 
five such cases. 

There are many good pastors in the 
Norwegian Lutheran Church, we know. 
But I do not think that yon will lose any- 
thing by continuing, slowly, to give their 
own status. You owe it to them! 



i 



MODERN PROPHETS of BAAL 

OR 

WATCHMEN on ZION'S WALLS 

By President C. A. Blanchard. 

This is a tract especially intended for ministers. The term Baalism in referring to 
Masonry is used figuratively. •* If we say Lord to any one who is not God, then we 
are worshipers of Baal and if we, who are religious teachers, call any one Lord 
except the true God, then we are prophets of Baal." This tract, in addition to setting 
forth the real relation of Masonic ministers to a heathen system, also gives the reasons 
why Christian preachers become prophets of Baal. 

In the appendix there is a chapter on Masonic Theology, taken from Mackey's "Masonic 
Ritualist", the author being the well known Past General Grand High Priest of the General 
Grand Chapter of the United States. There is also A Word to Bible Students, by Dean 
J. M. Gray, D. D., of the Moody Bible Institute, and there is a page of Bible quotations 
which are important in this connection. 

Thirty-two pages; Single copies three cents, per hundred, $2.00 postpaid. 

Address 

NATIONAL CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION, 

850 West Madison Street, Chicago Ills. 



WOODMEN OF THE WORLD 

By BENJAMIN M. HOLT 

The authax, Mr. B. M. Holt, was for many years a lodge member. He resigned his lodge 
connection In all due form on account of scruples of conscience; he was not dropped on account 
of delinquency, birt voluntarily resigned and received his regular "letter of dimisslon." 

The present treatise, which concerns itself with the Woodmen of the World in particular 
■hows almost exclusively from quotations of prominent Woodmen, official publications, supply 
houses, and others, what the Woodmen teach and do, and points out wherein their teachings and 
practises degree with Christian principles. The little booklet is sure to be of inestimable valut 
in the, hands of pastors and others that have occasion to warn a Christian brother against 
Joining a lodge, and should be available also in persuading those who hav« already taken thi» 
step, to leave the lodge. 

The little paper-covered book comprises 72 pages, size 5x7 M>. It contains four Illustrations of 
secret society paraphernalia. The list price is 35 cents, postpaid. 

Address NATIONAL CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION, 850 W. Madison St., Chkago 



Was Washington 



M 



a mason: 

By PRES. CHARLES A. BLANCHARD 

10c per copy, postpaid 



This is the best, as well as the most interesting-, contribution yet 
written on the question of Washington's relation to Freemasonry. 

ADDRESS 

NATIONAL CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION 
850 W. MADISON ST. CHICAGO, iLL. 




VOL. LIV 




CHICAGO, OCTOBER, 1921 



Martin Luther preached this doc- 
trine of atoning blood to slumbering 
Europe, and Europe awoke from the 
dead. Amid all his defences of the di- 
vine sovereignty Calvin never ignored 
or belittled the atonement. Cowper 
sang of it among the water lillies of 
the Ouse. Spurgeon thundered this 
glorious doctrine of Christ crucified 
into the ears of peer and peasant with 
a voice like the sound of many waters. 
John Bunyan made the Cross the 
starting-point to the celestial city. 
Moody's bells all chimed to the key- 
note of Calvary. Gipsy Smith strings 
all his pearls on the red cord of the 
atonement. No man can expect evan- 
gelistic success who does not preach 
redemption through the blood. 

DR. T. L. CUYLER. 



No. 6 




OFFICIAL ORGAN, NATIONAL CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION 
15 CENTS A COPY ESTABLISHED 1868. $1.50 A YEAR 



VOL. LIV. No. 6 



CHICAGO. 



OCTOBER, 1921 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 

Published Monthly by the National Christian 
Association. 



WM. I. PHILLIPS 

850 West Madison Street, Chicago. 

Managing Editor. 



TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION 

PRICE— Per year, in advance, $1.50; three 
months, on trial, thirty-five cents; single 
copies, fifteen cents. 

PRESENTATION COPIES— Many persons sub- 
scribe for the Christian Cynosure to be sent 
to FRIENDS. In such cases, if we are advised 
that a subscription is a present and not regru* 
larly authorized by the recipient, we wl 
make a memorandum to discontinue at ex- 
piration, and to send no bill for the ensuing 
year. 

BUSINESS LETTERS should be addressed to 
Wm. I. Phillips, Gen. Secy., at the above ad- 
dress. 

Entered as Second-class matter May 19, 1897, 
lit the Post Office at Chicago, 111., under Act of 
Vlarc'a 3. 1879. 



CONTENTS 



Page 
Quotation, by Dr. T. L. CuyTer Cover 

Reorganized "Invisible Empire," by Wm. 
I. Phillips '.. 163 

Jehovah or Baal — Christian Instructor. . . . 164 

Cartoon— "Keep It Up, Uncle Sam" 165 

The White Shrine — Omaha Daily 166 

Settling the Lodge Question Right — The 
Lutheran Witness , 167 

A Question 167 

Ritual Brotherhood of Railway Clerks — 
Funeral Ceremonies 167 

Bending to Idolatry 168 

The Yawning Pit of Lodgery, by Evan- 
gelist C. F. Derstine 169 

Church and Lodge, by Rev. M. S. Hubbell. 174 

Driving the Spirit of God from the 
Church 175 



Foes of Apostolic Christianity, by Bishop 
Harold C. Mason , 176 

The United Presbyterian Church, by S. Y. 
Orr 177 

The Child, by Amanda Leaman 178 

The Question of the Hour, by Miss E. E. 
Flagg 180 

Photograph — Wm. H. Seward 187 

News of Our Work: 

Paul Rader's Testimony on Secret So- 
cieties 187 

Eastern Secretary's Report, by Rev. 
W. B. Stoddard , 188 

Southern Agent's Report, by Rev. F. J. 
Davidson 189 

Letters from Our Friends 191 



NATIONAL CHRISTIAN ASSOCIA- 
TION. 



President, Rev. John F. Heemstra; 
Vice-President, Rev. Wm. B. Rose, 

Recording Secretary, Mrs. N. E. Kel- 
logg; Secretary-Treasurer, Wm. I. 

Phillips. 



BOARD OF DIRECTORS. 

Walter Wietzke, A. W. Safford, G. W. 
Hylkema, Wm. P. Ferries, J. R. Shaf- 
fer, G. W. Bond, M. P. F. Doermann, 
A. H. Leaman, C. A. Blanchard, George 
Slager and Thos. C. McKnight. 

LECTURERS. 

Those desiring lectures or addresses 
may write to any of the speakers named 
below : 

Rev. W. B. Stoddard, Box 94, East 
Falls Church, Virginia 

Rev. Adam Murrman, Arena, Wis. 

Rev. F. J. Davidson, 927 St. Maurice 
Ave., New Orleans, La. 

Mrs. Lizzie W. Roberson, 2864 Corby 
St., Omaha, Neb. 

Pres. C. A. Blanchard, Wheaton, 111 



There is none 
other Name 
under heaven, 
given among 
men, whereby 
we must be 
saved. 

— Acts 4:12 



CHRISTIAN 

CYNOSURE 



Jesua anawerea 
him: I spake 
openly to the 
world, and in 
secret have I 
said nothing. 
—John 18:20 



JEHOVAH OR BAAL. 

It is a long way to Mt. Carmel, on 
which Elijah said to the assembled hosts 
of Israel, "How long halt ye between 
two opinions? If Jehovah be God, fol- 
low Him; but if Baal be God, then fol- 
low him." It is a long distance chrono- 
logically between that momentous day 
and the day in which we are now living. 
But the message which Elijah uttered 
then and there peals forth from the 
heavens above us as loudly and as dis- 
tinctly as when it was uttered in the ears 
of the men of Israel. 

We are called upon to make choice be- 
tween two opinions as distinctly as Elijah 
called upon Israel to do in that day. You 
say that there are a thousand questions 
which are dividing the interests and at- 
tention of mankind. We say that one 
question is dividing the world into two 
ranks and our answer to that question 
determines our place in battle of opinions 
which is now hastening on to a final issue. 
And this is the same question which 
Elijah proposed, "If Jehovah be God, 
follow Him; but if Baal, follow him." 

There is more Baal worship in the 
world today than many are willing to ad- 
mit. There are multitudes who resent 
the suggestion that they are Baal wor- 
shipers who must clearly be placed in that 
class. The men of Israel in Elijah's 
day were not atheists. They were a very 
religious crowd. They had as many as 
450 priests, and they professed to be wor- 
shiping the great God who made the sun 
and stars and earth, and from whom they 
received their being and all its comforts. 
And there are thousands today who talk 
freely about the Great Being who made 
all things and the Great Benefactor from 
whom comes every good and perfect gift, 
and yet they no more worship the Jeho- 
vah of the Bible than did the worshipers 
of Baal in the clays of Elijah. The Jeho- 



vah of the Bible is the Personal God and 
Father who reveals Himself through 
Jesus Christ, the God who has made 
known that love which is so great that it 
led to the giving of His only begotten 
Son. Jehovah is God revealed in Jesus 
Christ, and any form of worship which 
eliminates the name and the atoning sac- 
rifice of our Lord Jesus Christ, is only a 
form of nature worship, however devout 
and Biblical the phrases employed in the 
exercises of devotion. Any teaching 
which proposes to save human souls and 
lift up society by any other means save 
the blood of the cross and the renewing 
power of the Holy Spirit, is a mere na- 
ture religion, to all intents and purposes 
a modernized form of Baal worship, a 
natural religion, such as the heart of 
man has devised, to the setting aside of 
the redemption which God Himself has 
devised and purchased and without which 
there can be no life in the presence of 
God. 

Look around and see the many forms 
of nature worship which prevail today. 
Think of every ritual which eliminates 
the name of Jesus Christ. Think of 
every form of teaching that seeks to en- 
noble man and demonstrate his power 
to save and elevate himself, independent 
of the gracious guidance and help which 
God is freely offering to mankind. Think 
of the glorification of outward respec- 
tability for regeneration, the substitute 
of culture for conversion, social service 
for salvation, and the number of Baal 
worshippers begins to multiply so rapidly 
that they cannot be reckoned. 

Bringing the matter home still closer, 
is the God whom we worship merely the 
God of nature, the God whose counte- 
nance shines in the sunbeam, whose voice 
speaks in the thunder or in the ocean's 
roar, whose steppings are felt in the 
trembling earth and whose might is seen 
in the conflagration that sweeps over 



Nil 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



October, 1921. 



fields and forest ? As we ponder the 
great vital question which divides all men 
into two ranks. Carmel vanishes and Cal- 
vary rises before us. There we see three 
crosses and Jesus in the midst. The cross 
of Calvary separated between the peni- 
tent and the impenitent thieves, and the 
cross of Christ still marks the line of 
separation between the followers of Je- 
hovah Jesus and the followers of Baal. 
On which side are we? How long halt 
ye ? 

■ — Christian Instructor. 



REORGANIZED "INVISIBLE 
EMPIRE." 

The press of the country has been 
greatly aroused during the past month 
over the Ku-Klux Klan. the newly organ- 
ized "Invisible Empire." 

It is reason enough for its suppression 
by the Government that it has taken the 
name and masks of the original organiza- 
tion of some fifty years ago, which was 
organized in Tennessee in June, 1866. In 
1868 the Tennessee Legislature passed a 
law designed to suppress the society, im- 
posing heavy fines and imprisonment for 
mere membership in the order and de- 
claring that association or connection with 
the Klan "infamous." 

The Ku-Klux Klan of that day was 
investigated by a committee of the United 
States Congress and the majority re- 
port to Congress was as follows : 

"The evidence is equally decisive that 
redress cannot be obtained against those 
who commit crimes in disguise and at 
night. The reasons assigned are that 
identification is difficult, almost impos- 
sible ; that when this is attempted the 
combination and oaths of the order come 
in and release the culprit by perjury, 
either upon the witness stand or in the 
jury box ; and that the terror inspired by 
their acts, as well as the public sentiment 
in their favor in many localities, paralyzes 
the arm of the civil power." 

The New Order. 

The reorganized Ku-Klux Klan dates 
from 1915 when thirty-four members 
took the oath of allegiance and soon after 
the order was chartered by the state of 
Georgia. 



Secrecy or Death. 

At the time of administering the oath 
to the initiate the Exalted Cyclop says: 

"Mortal man cannot assume a more 
binding oath ; character and courage alone 
will enable you to keep it. Always re- 
member that to keep this oath means your 
honor, happiness and life, but to violate 
it means DISGRACE, DISHONOR 
AND DEATH. May honor, happiness 
and life be yours." 

The order claims to be 100 per cent 
American, and like the Masonic and the 
Lodge in general, to seek the highest 
good of the country and to be the de- 
fender of the Constitution and of our 
free institutions. 

In the face of this lodge claim it ex- 
cludes Jews, Catholics and Negroes, and 
so differs from the Masons who exclude 
"woman, an old man in his dotage, young 
men under age, an Atheist, a madman or 
a fool, I knowing them to be such." 

Because the Ku-Klux Klan is organ- 
ized against three classes of our fellow 
citizens a great hue and cry is raised — 
this cry on the part of city councils and 
church assemblies lacks sincerity and ef- 
fectiveness because, as they well know, 
the same cry should be raised against 
Masonry and secret oath-bound Mormon- 
ism and others. 

Let us refer back to the action of our 
general Congress as quoted in our fourth 
paragraph. One would think that that 
grave presentation of facts by a most im- 
portant committee in Congress would 
open men's eyes to the patent, obvious 
fact that no free country can long remain 
such with two or more sorts of oaths in 
the consciences of its people. But it has 
not and will not open men's eyes. Pos- 
sibly in that very committee, certainly 
throughout Congress, there were men 
who had sworn under ever)- devilish con- 
trivance to inspire "terror and wring out 
obedience, to have their throats cut if 
they disobey the ordinances or mandates 
of the lodge. To expect such men to ar- 
rest the Ku-Klux Klan and shield inno- 
cent, loyal men is as likely to secure that 
end as to send thieves to stop theft. They 
may indeed do so, but, if so, it will not 
be to establish justice and seen re order, 
but because they are thieves of a rival 
ring, 

(To Be Continued.) 



October, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



[Qu 




KEEP IT UP/\UNCLE 5AM 



WHO IS NEXT? 




"Every secret society, as far as it is widespread and influential, threatens the 
purity and existence of democratic institutions, and warps them to private ends 
and class supremacy. Every good citizen should make v/ai on all secret societies, 
and give himself no rest until the}' are forbidden by law and rooted out of exist- 
ence." — Wendell Phillips, in a letter to Rev. James J. Stoddard. March iS. 
1880. 

"J am prepared to complete the demonstration before God anil man. that the 
Masonic oaths, obligations and penalties, cannot, by any possibility, be reconciled 
to the laws of morality, of Christianity, or of the land." John Quincy Adams, 
Sixth President, I nited States, in a letter to Ed. Livingston. 

"All secret associations, the members of which fake upon themselves ex- 
traordinary obligations to one another and are bound together by secret oaths, 
are naturally sources of jealousy and jusl alarm to others; are especially unfavor- 
able to harmony and mutual confidence among men living together under popular 
institutions, and are dangerous to the general cause of civil liberty and good 
eminent. Under the influence of this conviction it is 1113 opinion thai the future 
administration of all such oaths, and the formation o\ all such obligations, should 
be prohibited by law. " — Daniel Webster, in a letter dated Boston; November 20, 
[8«. 



166 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



October, 1921. 



THE WHITE SHRINE. 

We have had inquiries as to the 
"White Shrine" and for the enlighten- 
ment of our readers we quote the follow- 
ing from the Omaha (Neb.) Daily of 
February 4th, 191 5. 

"One of the new organizations of 
Omaha is the Order of the White Shrine 
of Jerusalem. On Friday evening at 
Masonic Temple the Malva Chapter of 
the White Shrine was organized with a 
membership of eighty-four. One of the 
requisites of this society is that all of 
the shrine must be members in good 
standing of the Order of the Eastern 
Star, the White Shrine being to the 
Eastern Star what the York or Scottish 
Rite is to Masonry. 

"It is an independent order, yet loyal 
to every Masonic body. It was organized 
in 1894 and its largest membership is in 
Illinois, Ohio and Michigan. It now has 
subordinate shrines in fifteen States and 
also shrines in Canada. * * *" 



SETTLING THE LODGE QUESTION 
RIGHT. 

We recorded some months ago the 
persistent efforts which are being made 
throughout the country to break down 
the position of our Church on the lodge- 
question. Not all lodge-men are as hon- 
est as the one who recently said to the 
elder of an Illinois congregation: "I 
wish your Church would let down the 
bars on secret orders," and who added : 
"You have a lot of good material in your 
Church we would like to get." But while 
the sentiment is rarely uttered so plainly, 
it is the driving force behind the assaults 
on our position. "Good material — of 
course, we have good material ! Our 
people are respected, they are leaders in 
business in a thousand communities, they 
are decent, up-standing men, who would 
be an ornament to any lodge. And now 
that God has so blessed our Church and 
has given our people such great wealth 
and a fine reputation for civic virtues, 
the devil comes and wants to garner the 
crop. "Good material" forsooth ! And 
what measures are not being adopted to 
break into our congregations ! The lat- 
est, an almost incredible story, is that of 
a Texas District pastor who instructed a 
young man for confirmation, only to dis- 
cover that the man's sole purpose in sub- 



mitting to all this instruction in the way 
of salvation was to see whether he could 
not join as a lodgeman and thus break 
down the practice of that church ! What 
hyprocrisy ! (He did not join.) Else- 
where lodgemen are working upon rela- 
tives in our Church, egging them on to 
make trouble for the minister unless he 
comes to terms. 

But this agitation, while much more 
fierce and purposeful than in the lodge- 
fight of twenty years ago, has even now 
brought forth an astounding result. It 
has acted as a boomerang. Not only are 
our congregations fully alive to the situa- 
tion, but the entire lodge-question is get- 
ting an airing in congregational meetings, 
pastoral conferences, and synodical con- 
ventions as it never had before. The 
opening gun was fired when our national 
convention at Detroit, by unanimous vote 
of the pastors and laymen present, de- 
clared that the paragraph against union- 
ists worship, the membership paragraph 
of our constitution, includes the lodge as 
a unionistic organization. Membership 
in the lodge is thereby declared an ob- 
stacle to membership in our Synod. 
Since that date, and especially in recent 
months, no question has been so 
thoroughly discussed in our conferences 
as this, and, let it be said, in every case 
that has been reported to us absolute 
unanimity prevailed, — "this thing must be 
fought to a finish." More than that. 

In the time of rest that we had, vigil- 
ance has not everywhere been what it 
should have, been, — unremitting, sleep- 
less. Some congregations have gone to 
sleep on the question. And in some of 
these the lodge has taken a foothold. 
NOW SUCH CONGREGATIONS 
ARE CLEANING HOUSE. In some 
places there has even now been a fierce 
fight ; in others the membership is quietly 
and purposefully getting rid of its lodge- 
members. In not a single congregation 
in which, to our knowledge, the issue has 
now been drawn, has a stand been taken 
tolerant of the lodge. In the aggregate, 
compared with the great number of con- 
gregations in our Synod, the churches 
which have become contaminated with 
this evil are not many. But where the 
evil has entrenched itself, it is now being 
dealt with sternly,— with due regard to 
the degrees of brotherly admonition, — 



October, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



107 



but none the less sternly. Undoubtedly, 
where congregations continue to permit 
this uniting of Christ and Belial, of 
apostolic Christianity and eighteenth cen- 
tury Bntish Deism, the Districts will 
speak a word. In two instances the Dis- 
tricts have even this year spoken. 

In order to be specific, I shall quote 
from a set of resolutions adopted by the 
St. Louis pastoral conference this spring. 
It was unanimously agreed that public 
testimony in the pulpit must continue, not 
scolding, but public witness-bearing ; that 
adults as well as children are to be in- 
structed in our position on secret orders 
in a special lecture, when their course 
preparatory for confirmation is com- 
pleted; that no distinction shall be made 
between voting and communicant mem- 
bers ; that church discipline and excom- 
munication will not be delayed indefinite- 
ly ; that each person who comes with a 
release from a sister congregation w T ill be 
asked whether he is a lodge member, and 
if so, will be referred back to his former 
congregation ; that tracts shall be dis- 
tributed on the question. 

Lest these resolutions convey the im- 
pression that our St. Louis congregations 
are infested with lodge-people, it is due 
to say that a close and painstaking inves- 
tigation conducted by the pastors has re- 
vealed the fact that in our twenty-eight 
St. Louis churches there are at present 
thirteen members with lodge connection, 
every one of whom is being dealt with 
according to the rules of Christian disci- 
pline. — The Lutheran Witness, July, 
192 1. 



A QUESTION. 

I thought that foreign children 

Lived far across the sea 

Until I got a letter 

From a boy in Italy. 

"Dear little foreign friend," it said, 

As plainly as could be ; 

Now I wonder which is "foreign," 

That other boy, or me ? 

— Ethel Blair Jordan, 
In Junior Red Cross News. 



Attempt great things for God ; and ex- 
pect great things from God. 

Religion has no selfish feeling ; it is 
full to overflowing with the social feel- 
ings of charity and love. 



RITUAL BROTHERHOOD OF RAIL- 
WAY CLERKS. 

In use of gavel and for other purposes, * 
indicates one rap; ** two raps; *** three raps 

and so on. indicates a pause. Thus 

* ** indicates a rap, a pause, then two 



raps 



** t w0 raps, a pause and two 



raps and so on. 

Sections or paragraphs marked " !" may be 
omitted at the option of the lodge. 

Funeral Ceremonies. 
Opening ode, "Lead, Kindly Light." 
(The members of the lodge will form 
a circle about the casket if indoors, and 
iround the grave if in the burying ground. 
The President at the head of the casket 
supported by the Past President on the 
right and the Chaplain on the left. The 
Sergeant-at-Arms, as Marshal, will see 
that the members are properly formed 
around the casket, and then take the place 
at the foot, opposite the President. The 
members will stand with the right hand 
over the heart.) 

President : Fellow members, the mes- 
senger of death has again knocked at the 
door of our lodge and one of our mem- 
bers has been called away to join the 
silent majority ; a beloved companion has 
been summonsed hence; the circle of 
friendship has been broken, never more 
on earth to be renewed. No more shall 
we look into those eyes which have smiled 
upon us in friendly greeting, nor feel the 
warm clasp of our Brother's (or Sister's) 
hand. He (or she) has passed away, 
and it is with sorrowful hearts we con- 
template the brevity of human life, and 
yet in our sorrow we are comforted by 
the thought that he (or she) has passed 
away from the toil and heat of the day, 
the burdens and sorrows of his (or her) 
earthly career for him (or her) all these 
are o'er. He (or she) has gone to his 
(or her) rest, sweet rest, in that calm 
haven where all is rest and peace and 
where the storms and trials of life no 
more molest. Life is but a span, and 
when it is o'er it is as a tale that is told. 
Let us then be up and doing while the 
full tide of life flows in our veins : lot us 
so live that our lives may be a constant 
example to all around us, and thus fill 
the measure of our days with usefulness 
and pure motives, and prepare ourselves 
against the day when we, too, shall be as 
our beloved Brother (or Sister), who 
has gone to that bourne from whence no 



IS 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



October, 1921.- 



traveler returns. To his (or her) rela- 
tives and friends we bid them look to 
Him, who is the Supreme Ruler of the 
universe, in whom we live and move and 
have our being, to Him who tempers the 
wind to the shorn lamb. He who is the 
steadfast friend of erring humanity, who 
in the greatness of his love looks down 
upon us all with pity and sympathy, and 
although the trials of the present hour 
are such as to cause us pain and anguish 
of spirit, yet He will comfort the troubled 
heart. Then let us turn to Him in our 
affliction, fully confident that He will 
hear our prayer and grant us the blessing 
we so much need. Let us pray. 

Chaplain: Our Father, who' art in 
heaven, we come to Thee humbly be- 
seeching thy blessing upon all assembled 
here. Let this lesson of the brevity and 
uncertainty of life teach us so to walk, 
while we are still numbered with the 
living, that our lives should be an honor 
to Thee and a cherished memory to our 
friends, when we too have gone from this 
terrestrial world to the celestial and all 
glorious home above, where Thou dost 
forever reign in glory. To Thee we com- 
mend the relatives and friends bereaved ; 
be Thou their guide and comfort and 
bless them, and lead them in the paths of 
peace until they, too, shall have crossed 
the narrow river of death, to meet as a 
united band around thy throne in Heaven 
and to thy name be honor and glory for 
evermore. Amen. 

President : We now commit the body 
to the earth ; earth to earth, dust to dust, 
ashes to ashes, and commend the spirit of 
God who gave it ; the Lord gave and the 
Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the 
name of the Lord, who doeth all things 
well. To our Brother (or Sister) we bid 
a last fraternal farewell and hope to meet 
him (or her) again in the presence of the 
Supreme Auditor above, where all ac- 
counts are balanced, all debts cancelled 
and due credit given for all the good 
deeds done here below. Farewell, dear 
Brother for Sister), farewell. 

CLOSING ODE. 

Nearer, my God to Thee, . 

Nearer to Thee, 
E'en though it be a cross 

That raiseth me ; 
Still all my song shall be 
Nearer, my God, to Thee, 



Nearer, my God, to Thee, 
Nearer to Thee. 
(Also next three stanzas follow.) 
(The End.) 



BENDING TO IDOLATRY. 

In the Masonic order men must seal 
their obligations by kissing the Bible and 
the oath they take is in violation to the 
teachings of the Bible. In the Home 
Journal (Masonic) of December 15th, 
19 16, the following question is asked by 
a Grand Master of a Most Worshipful 
Master. 

Sealing the Obligation. 

The Grand Master of Nova Scotia 
(1916), Most Worshipful Bro. Donald 
F. Fraser, reported the following ques- 
tion and his decision thereon : 

" 'After the candidate has taken the 
obligation and is requested to kiss the 
Holy Bible, etc., by the Worshipful Mas- 
ter, refusing to do so, how should the 
W r orshipful Master proceed in the mat- 
ter, continue on to finish the degree or 
not? Candidate willing to raise right 
hand.' 

"In reply I ruled against the advance- 
ment of a candidate unless he conforms to 
all the established customs in the carry- 
ing out of the degree work, and sealing 
the obligation with his lips on the Holy 
Bible is -assuredly a part of the degree." 



If men realized the presence of God 
it would deter them from much sinning. 
•Religion is a submission, not an as- 
piration ; an obedience, not an ambition 
of the soul. 

You need and must have "power from 
on high," if you would do the work to 
which God has called you. 



"One ship goes East and another goes 
West, 
By the self same wind that blows. 
Tis the set of the sail and not the gale 

That determines the way they go. 
Like the winds of the sea are the ways 
of Fate 
As we voyage along through life ; 
It is the set of the soul that decides the 
goal, 
And not the calm or the strife." 



No sacrifice is too great to be made in 
order to find and know who serve God. 



October, 1021. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



100 



THE YAWNING PIT OF LODGERY. 

BY EVANGELIST C. F. DERSTINE. 

The lodge as an institution, which this 
article has under consideration, harbors 
much evil and has few creditable points. 
The lodge system stands condemned at 
the bar of God by the life and teachings 
of Christ. No attempt will be made to 
prove in an exhaustive manner any of 
the indictments made against this seduc- 
tive system. We believe, with no degree 
of doubt, that the lodge system is indeed 
the "dark yawning pit" in which thous- 
ands are engulfed through ignorance and 
spiritual blindness. 

Their Name Is Legion. 

The kinds of lodges are many. Cen- 
turies ago, Jesus Christ cleansed a man 
from the power of demons. He request- 
ed that demon to speak, and he cried out: 
"Legion !" Likewise lodges are fast be- 
coming legion ; there are probably three 
hundred kinds and thousands of halls. 
They resemble the lice of Egypt, being 
a pestilence in every land, in this later 
day of the world's history. 

The Mother of Them All. 

The mother of the A r ast brood is the 
monster. Masonry — patterned after ori- 
ental and heathen organizations. The off- 
spring lodges partake more or less of the 
spirit of their parental ancestor. When 
Masonry was in ill repute and considered 
by nearly everybody a national menace, 
these offspring lodges bridged the chasm, 
until the mother lodge reached a place 
of esteem in the eyes of ithe public. 
There is very little distinction between 
mother and brood in their fundamental 
principles. 

The Sen of God Locked Out. 

Long ago there was no room for Jesus 
in the inn. Today for the sake of wider 
patronage God's Son is barred from the 
majority of lodges. His principles and 
truth are not palatable there. Too many 
of Christ's enemies were not black-balled, 
they must needs not be offended. Rather 
again. we hear the cry in the lodge sys- 
tem, "Away with Him, give us Barra- 
bas." Even though God be recognized 
the Word speaks thus: "He that hath 
not the Son, hath not the Father." 
The Drawn Shade Evil. 

The lodge meetings are secret. Jesus 
Christ does not tolerate drawn shades. 



Lie said. "In secret have I said nothing." 
Secret alliances were foreign to His 
openness and sincerity. Secret grip- 
were obnoxious to Him. He did - 
"What was spoken in the ear in closets, 
would sialic day be heralded from the 
housetops." I le was the enemy of dark- 
ness, the friend of light. The lodge-, like 
the father of the system, i which is 
Satan) prefer darkness, drawn shades, 
.secret grips and bolted doors, probably 
because some of their deed- are evil. So 
at least has been much of their work. 

Their Sacrilegious Character. 

The sacred things of God are defamed 
in lodge halls. The Bible is only called 
"furniture." In the initiatory rites, Bible 
characters are misused or unnecessarily 
called into play. The solemn >cenes of 
life, such as death are acted. Often the 
ungodly are appointed as chaplains. 

Scenes of vulgarity disgrace many de- 
grees. Amusement and sacred things arc 
unduly mixed. It is the scene of Bel- 
shazzar's court in its last night re-acted. 
T 'seem to see the same handwriting on 
the wall — "Weighed in the balances and 
found wanting/'' 

The Infernal Deception. 

The origin of lodge religion is satanic, 
and from the infernal regions, but the 
height of deception is reached, when they 
send all their members to the Grand 
Lodge (??) above. This would be in- 
consistent for the church to do. At a re- 
cent funeral a drunken saloonkeeper and 
God-cursing Mason was preached to 
heaven by a Mason pastor in the same 
city. Lodge religion has no Calvary, no 
.Redeemer, but the works of a Christ re- 
jecting humanity. Such actions and 
lodge burials call for the condemnation 
ot every minister <-'\ God's gospel in the 
world. 

The Deadly Character of Secrecy. 

By secrecy we mean oath-bound, pen- 
alty threatened groups or societies, i )ne 
step in the direction of secrecy is dan- 
gerous to Christian character: real man- 
hood requires openness. Jesus Christ 
spoke thus: "I spoke openly to the 
world." Lodge men cannot say that. 
They have taken a step in the wrong 
direction. Mother and wife are no mure 
considered confidential. Then' is a seri- 
ous break in character. Secrecy savors 



170 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



October, 1921. 



of the pit. May we all steer clear of 
this precipice. 

The Testimony of Noted Men. 

Not only have Christian men declared 
themselves on the lodge question, but 
Statesmen have spoken. George Wash- 
ington withdrew from Masonry despite 
their denial of the same. President John 
Adams warned the nation as to secrecy. 
Daniel Webster hurled the anathema of 
. his rejection at them in eloquent terms. 
Captain William Morgan was carried 
away and murdered for his disclosure of 
Masonry. Hosts of public men have 
seen the pernicious ways of the lodge. 
The Simple Simon Group. 

The child play enacted at graveyards 
during lodge burials would often be 
laughable if not so serious. 

The fools, of which men are often 
made in lodge initiations, would be des- 
pised elsewhere. Hired men are often 
engaged to make men simple simons, and 
a laughing stock to the rest. Ridiculous 7 
ly robed and partially undressed men be- 
times are made to appear against their 
own wills. Men with feathered hats in 
parades, and womanly aprons seem not to 
be ashamed of themselves since the lodge 
system demands such confusion. 
A Step in the Darkness. 

A leap into the dark by civilized men, 
yea, professedly Christian men ; into the 
dark by word, and oath; conditions un- 
known as well. Is it any wonder that 
God states that "if a soul swear, pro- 
nouncing with his lips to do evil, or to do 
good, whatsoever it be that man shall 
pronounce with an oath, and it be hid 
from him; when he knoweth of it * * * 
he shall confess that he hath sinned in 
that thing." (Leviticus 5:4-5.) 

Jesus goes farther in the liberation of 
men, and commands: "Swear not at 
all" for whatsoever is more than yea 
or nay cometh of the evil one. Shall any 
lodge rule men thus? Shall a group of 
society bosses enslave the many? Shall 
a rational man leap into the dark? 
The Gosling Offspring. 

The plea is made quite frequently, that 
Masonry is evil, but not the smaller 
lodges. This reminds one of the boy 
who wrung the necks of a number of 
goslings. When reprimanded and spoken 
to as to their innocent and non-dangerous 



character, he replied "but they'll be 
ganders soon." He had suffered from a 
gander before. These so called inno- 
cent by-paths are the lures of the evil 
one to mislead the unwary. 
Satanic Religion. 
The Bible records the fact that many 
of Satan's ministers are ministers of 
righteousness ; thus, the lodge lauds its 
own righteous acts and refuses to ac- 
knowledge their need of God's righteous- 
ness, which is provided for us in the 
person of Christ. 

Their robe of self-righteousness is not 
discarded for Christ's seamless garment. 
Lodge men seek to vault the skies by 
added rungs of virtuous deeds. They do 
not look to Calvary for pardon, peace 
and hope. They hardly sing: 
My hope is built on nothing less, 
Than Jesus blood, and righteousness, 
I dare not trust the sweetest frame, 
But wholly lean on Jesus' name." 

The false hope of the lodge is keeping 
thousands from their Saviour and from 
salvation. It knows no new birth, it 
patches up the old Adam. 

The Red Handed Murderers. 
In Genesis 49 :6 is found a correspond- 
ing statement of a crime that started in 
secrecy and ended in murder. "O my 
soul, come not thou into their secrets ; 
unto their assembly, mine honour, be not 
thou united : for in their anger they slew 
a man." When Captain William Mor- 
gan disclosed. the secrets of Masonry, he 
was abducted, killed, and was never 
heard of. Masons may kill and are sel- 
dom if ever hanged or electrocuted. 

Recently in a clear case of cold blood- 
ed murder a Masonic banker depleted 
the funds of a neighboring county, 
through the treachery of not finding a 
jury that would agree. Outside influ- 
ences bore upon the case. Dr. Cronin 
was murdered by the Clan-na-Gael. The 
courts were intimidated. Dr. Griswold 
of Hartford, Connecticut, confided to a 
Brother Mason his guilt of arson, who 
in turn became a witness against him in 
court. For this Mr. Jackson was ex- 
pelled by the lodge, because he disclosed 
the crime of a Brother Mason. This was 
published by the press of that city, but 
many times such wicked words never 
reach the eyes of the public. 



October, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



171 



Lodges have protected criminals ga- 
lore. They are a national menace. 
Secrecy is a fostering place for evil. 
Lodges have been the harboring places 
of dark crime. Recently in a lodge hall 
of southern Ohio, the officials had to re- 
strain a mob from forming in a lodge 
hall and attacking peaceable citizens. 
Tims every lodge man becomes a partak- 
er of these criminal actions. For dis- 
closing the evils of lodgery, I have been 
personally threatened, in Iowa, Pennsyl- 
vania and elsewhere. They have not the 
spirit of Christ. 

The Unequal Yoke. 

The Note of warning for our safety 
rings out clearly in the Word of 
God. ''Be not unequally yoke together 
with unbelievers." (II Cor. 6:14.) 
Lodge fellowship includes unbelievers of 
every type. The believer in God, that re- 
jects Jesus Christ, is the worst type of an 
unbeliever. No man packs together good 
and rotten fruit; no man harbors the 
contagiously diseased man with his fam- 
ily; no man -of common sense plants 
good and bad seed intentionally; no man 
stables his oxen with lions, or lambs 
among wolves. Why should any Chris- 
tian be unequally yoke together with un- 
believers and expect good results, and to 
merit God's approval and blessing. 

The Church Parasite. 

For non-Christian men to fellowship 
and unite in lodges seems consistent, 
since they do not profess to trust God, — 
as do the flowers, fowls and wild beasts 
that roam the forests. The case is dif- 
ferent with members of the Church of 
Christ ; why should they divide time, in- 
terest and dues. The lodge is a parasite 
that robs the body of Christ. While men 
are out building up lodge fraternities 
they should be winning souls. We con- 
clude that lodges are parasites that sap 
the main; or rather God's plant of life. 
Many churches are forsaken because 
lodges dominate towns and communities. 
The Club House of Satan. 

God instituted the home but Satan 
starts club houses. Evenings that should 
be spent around family hearth are spent 
in various loafing centers. Millions of 
men, and sad to say women as well, are 
nightly sitting in lodge halls. Wives in 
lodge halls and children not being taken 



care of, lacking the fostering love and 
care of real mothers. 

Much of lodge life centers around 
foolish and illegitimate initiations. Ban- 
queting and revellings, such as the 
wicked indulge in are evident. Dances 
late into the night are frequent occur- 
ences. The conversation savors very 
little of heavenly and eternal things. 
Again we say for the Christian who en- 
ters, that they are club houses of Satan. 
Revival of Caste System. 

What heathendom is already cursed 
with, namely "the caste system" the 
lodge brings to civilized countries. What 
Christianity seeks to purge nations of 
this system continues to pollute. The 
gradation of society, the formation of 
sects, has ever been the Devil's work. 
The clicks in society hinder the larger 
fellowship of humanity. These drawn 
shade organizations separate mankind. 
The secret grips and private passwords 
are wedges driven between the sons of 
Adam. 

Society for Unbelievers. 

Jesus Christ who was poor of the 
poorest, without where to lay his head 
trusted God implicitly. He classed those 
who were constantly in anxiety for food 
and raiment as distrustful — a sort of 
unbelief in God's providence. The most 
beautiful words found, as to faith in 
God for future good and ill, are those 
found in Matthew 6 125-34. 

"Take no thought for your life, what 
ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor 
yet for your body, what ye shall put on. 
Is not the life more than meat, and the 
body than raiment? 

"Behold the fowls of the air; for they 
sow not, neither do they reap, nor 
gather into barns; yet your heavenly 
Father feedeth them. Are ye not much 
better than they? 

"Which of you by taking thought can 
add one cubit unto his stature? 

"And why take ye thought for rai- 
ment? Consider the lilies of the field, 
how they grow ; they toil not, neither do 
they spin; 

"And yet I say unto you, that even 
Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed 
like one of these. 

"Wherefore if God so clothe the grass 
of the field, which today is and tomor- 



172 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



October, 1921. 



row is c'asl into the oven, shall he not 
much more clothe yon, O ye of little 
faith? ::c * * 

"Take therefore no thought for the 
morrow; for the morrow shall take 
thought for the things of itself." 
Compulsory Selfishness. 

The lodge system compels its members 
to take selfish attitudes. They bar the 
door of entrance to those really in need. 
In the following instance, the father was 
lame and getting old and had five chil- 
dren to support ; but there is no room 
for cripples in lodges — they are notably 
absent. This is only one of similar 
cases. In the lodge there is no room for 
the blind, deaf, crippled, weakened in 
heart, diseased in lungs, or one armed 
men. Real Christian charity opens its 
arms of welcome to every class of suf- 
fering mankind. 

The Oath Bound Evil. 

The entrance conditions to. lodge mem- 
bership call for an' oath. This Jesus 
Christ states cometh of the evil one. 
Jesus calls for universal honesty; yea, 
meaning yea, and nay meaning nay. 
Read Matthew 5 134 to 37. 

The departure from truth by swearing 
oaths is sufficient error to keep true 
Christians outside of lodge membership. 
The irreverence of lodges is condemned 
by Christ in that their oath calls the holy 
name of God and sacred things into 
trivial transactions, for which God does 
not hold man guiltless ; but guilty of dis- 
honoring Him. 

Titles of Pride and Sinful Dignity. 

The Word of God absolutely forbids 
the calling of mortal man Master. It is 
a species of slavery. Yet Masonry calls 
men Worshipful Master, Thrice Illus- 
trious Grand Master and Most Excellent 
and Super-Excellent Master. Other 
lodges use similar titles of pride and 
sham. Such names create idol temples 
whose gods are men. These hollow titles 
cater to pride and sinful man ever fol- 
lows the track of Satan, who could not 
bear that God alone could be worshiped 
and called Master and God. In this mat- 
ter the God of the Universe is rightfully 
jealous, who will have no other gods be- 
side Him. 

Petty titles constantly allure shal- 
low men. Thus the lodge array of 



titles and psychology of the devil are 
similar. Most lodges use inflated titles. 

The fathers of. the Constitution of the 
United States saw the danger in titles, 
causing men to lose their sincerity and 
simplicity of manner. So they wisely 
forbade any person in the service of the 
American Government receiving a 
foreign title. They acted wisely. 
Imperium in Imperio. 

That is, a power with the powers that 
be. A system that dictates to the gov- 
ernment, a power that throttles justice, 
ought not exist in any nation. The level- 
headed statesman, Daniel Webster, saw 
this clearly. 

One cannot fail to notice with regret, 
men who formerly opposed lodges, such 
as Win. J. Bryan, upon entering public 
office affiliated with them. Even Presi- 
dent Harding was initiated into the 
mysteries of Masonry on the eve of his 
entering the White House. The White 
House and dark room Masonry do not 
seem to go together. Such acts are a 
curse to America or any- nation. The 
President does not join all lodges — then 
why should he differentiate? 

For a man who has taken the terrible 
oath of Masonry, the simple oath of the 
U. S. A. must be easy to set aside. 
Masonry threatens the death penalty for 
revealing its secrets, yet this is a govern- 
mental prerogative. It is reported that 
the Ku Klux Klan carries out its penal- 
ties and murders. As well as the Mafia 
Secret Band. The White Caps are 
known as lynchers. These are all 
wicked off -shoots of secrecy and drawn 
shades of philosophy. The lodges are 
society muzzlers ; and are formed of men 
that are gagged. Some are oathbound to 
protect every criminal in it, but murder 
and treason. These are crime organiza- 
tions of deplorable guilt. 

Pantheon Temple. 

Many lodges are polytheist ; that is, 
they believe in many gods. They have 
a place for every man's god. Moham- 
med must be honored ; the Jew dare not 
be excluded, even, though it is written, 
"he that hath not the Son, hath not the 
Father." The Koran is placed along- 
side the Bible. Such mixture of truth 
and many gods constitute idolatry of the 
most serious kind since it is practiced in 
enlightened countries. 



October, 1921. 



CHRIS1 [AN CYNOSURE 



17:; 



Wasting God's Substance. 

The lodge system is costl) and i- cei 
tainly a poor financial investment. Thus, 
as Stewarts of God's treasure we are 
wasting his substance. There is an 
enormous amount of money uselessly 
expended yearly in buildings, banquets, 
receptions, bands, parades, swords, 
badges, starts, collars, girdles, aprons, 
jewels, dresses, chapeaus, banners, etc. 
The report of the I. O. O. F. Convention 
held in Philadelphia, stated it cost $286,- 
577.46 to maintain the lodges ; they paid 
out less than half of money received for 
actual relief. That surely is spurious 
charity and benevolence. Moreover, 
thousands of people have lost all their 
dues through the failure of lodges. One 
of my close kin was forsaken after pay- 
ing dues for a lifetime. 
Christian Charity Versus Lodge Charity. 

Lodge charity benefits its members 
only, lodge charity is based on compul- 
sion under oath ; lodge charity stops 
when dues stop ; lodge charity does not 
reach the man with weakened heart, 
lungs, or body ; lodge charity does not 
reach those troubled with constitutional 
ailments ; lodge charity does not help the 
blind, lame or crippled ; lodge charity is 
a misnomer ; it has no reason to be called 
charity. It's a costly system that deludes 
its members. 

Real Christian charity does all the 
lodges fail to do. Real charity knows no 
race, color, caste, sect, sex or physical 
condition. Its relief is universal. 

It is like the good Samaritan — it 
reaches the unknown helpless man with- 
out money or dues. The Levite passed 
by the man because he failed to belong 
to the Levitical Order. The pass words 
were. groans. The only grip needed and 
used was the help the wounded man re- 
ceived as he was lifted upon the Samari- 
tan's beast. Jesus erected this Samari- 
tan's monument : he called him a real 
neighbor. That is Christian charity, it 
reaches tin- poor, helpless victims i^\ so- 
ciety which we have and shall continue 
to have with us always and we can do 
them good. 

Two Masters. 

"No man can serve two masters" 
states the case. Either the church or 
lodge takes the pre-eminence. The god 
of lodgery or the God 0! the Bible takes 



the throne. ( ^u^ cannot be a good 
church man and a good lodge man at the 
same time. Too often is heard the out- 
come — my lodge is as good as my 
church; too often on Wednesday night 
the lodge i> attended and the prayer 
meeting neglected. How easy some men 
find it to hunt for lodge members, in- 
stead of becoming soul winners for the 
Lord. 

Hindering Revivals. 

Some institutions are not only evil, 
but they hinder others as well. The writ- 
er has traveled largely throughout the 
United State- and Canada, holding re- 
vivals in many states and has noticed 
that lodge-ridden towns are hard to move 
toward God. 

The religion of lodgery seems to soothe 
the conscience, partially satisfies the S< - 
cial instinct and creates fellowship of 
some kind. The lodge makes men of 
unbelief feel safe without God's care. 
Then again the lodge claims to send all 
its members to the Grand Lodge above 
thus giving them false hopes. Thus souls 
by the thousands stumble into hell, be- 
cause of lodges. We say. touch not the 
unclean thing. 

The Plant to Be Rooted Up. 
The earth has weeds, and the world has 
plants of renown which God and heaven 
are not the first cause. These system- 
will someday receive the fiery judgment 
of God, since they now have His disap- 
proval. Heaven is a forbearing place. 
I rod's mills run slow. Heaven oft seems 
silent. His wheels of judgment move 
slowly, but they move. God leaves many 
tares for burning some later day. The 
lodge plant will be rooted up. God will 
not always allow such systems as the 
lodge to abide. 

Great Ant'secret Man. 

"Ami*' means opposed. The whole 
life and the message of the Son (^i God 
are opposed to false principles oi lodgery. 
Jesus urged men rather to suffer, yea 
die, than turn to wrong positions and 
error. The soul lo llim was everything. 
Secret compacts to the Son of (umI were 
foreign. The reason many men accept 
all dial goes with lodgery is the feeling o\ 
safety that the lodge affords in case of 
future ills. But this benefit is dearly 
bought. The soul and character is seri- 
ously impaired to save the body. Jesus 



174 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



October, 1921. 



suffered hunger rather than listen to 
Satan and make bread out of stones. 
Jesus was poor in wealth but what a 
stream of spiritual life has flowed from 
Him down the ages. 

Hearing the Conclusion. 

Before bidding the reader farewell, we 
shall sum up our convictions ; withal 
agreeing that good men are blinded and 
enter the lodge betimes and that all lodges 
are not alike, but jointly guilty as to the 
system brought into existence and main- 
tained. 

They increase in kinds constantly. 

They originated in heathendom. 

Jesus Christ is not present in many. 

They defame sacred things by im- 
proper use. 

They are deceptive, in that they send 
all their members to the Grand Lodge 
above. 

Their secrecy is deadly. 

Hosts of public men are opposed to 
them. 

Many of their initiations are silly and 
vile. 

The oath is sinful. 

It is a step into the dark. 

Minor lodges are apes of the worst. 

Their religion is largely Satanic. 

Secrecy fosters crimes. 

The unequal yoke is unscriptural. 

The lodge system robs the church. 

Lodge halls hinder the development of 
home life. 

Lodgism revives the caste system. 

Its constituency is largely unbelieving. 

Lodges are selfish in methods. 

Oaths increase dishonesty and hypoc- 
ricy. 

They cater in conferring titles to sin- 
ful man's pride. 

They are detrimental to governments 
— often blind officials, throttle justice and 
are unlike real democracy. 

Their halls are often idol pantheon 
temples. 

Thev obscure the real revelation of 
God. 

They waste God's substance. 

They do not pay their members finan- 
cially. 

Lodge charity is not real charity. 

Lodges become masters of lives, and 
dictate to men's consciences. 

They hinder revivals and God's work. 

They are plants not brought into exis- 



tence by the Lord and shall be rooted up. 
We rejoice to believe the prophetic 
note in the Bible that some day Christ 
will come back to earth again; not in 
weakness but in power; not to be ruled 
over but to reign, when His throne will 
be seen on the earth and His knowledge 
cover the earth as the waters the sea. 

The Bible Odd-Fellow. 

The world often thinks that those who 
seek to follow the entire teachings of the 
Bible are odd. So they are. Their way, 
Jesus states, is narrow, but its way of 
life leads to the gates that are ajar to all 
lovers of God and Truth. 

Yea, fools they are often called, but 
there is wisdom in God's fools. Let us 
pillow our hopes on the marvelous prom- 
ises of God in the Bible and time will 
tell whether we be fools or wise men. 
Here are several parting promises. 

"Trust in the Lord, and do good and 
verily thou shalt be good." 

"Let your widows trust in me, and 
your orphans and I will preserve them 
alive." 

"I was young, and now I am old, and 
have not seen the righteous forsaken or 
his seed begging bread." 

"Casting all your care upon Him, for 
He careth for you." 

"My God shall supply all your need 
according to his riches in glory by Christ 
Jesus." 

Eureka, Illinois. 



CHURCH AND LODGE. 

REV. M. S. HUBBELL. 

My father was born in Batavia, New 
York, in 1811 and was about sixteen 
years old when William Morgan was 
abducted and murdered. He passed 
through all the anti-Masonic agitation of 
that period and was an ultra anti-Mason. 
I was born in 1837, the same year that 
Mr. Moody was born, and in the same 
precinct in Michigan where John M. 
Hitchcock, a former associate of Mr. 
Moody and the Cynosure brethren was 
born. A pretty radical pedigree as an 
anti and yet I have not been half radical 
enough as I see it now. 

Before coming here in 191 1 lodge men 
in the churches were the exception but 
here they are practically in control in 
most of the churches and never as ag- 



October, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



175 



gressive Christians but as time serving 
neutralizers "having the" profession "of 
godliness but denying the power." They 
have put Christianity on a worldly basis 
the same as lodge with the preference 
given to the lodges in time, money, and 
effort. This is what is the matter with 
the south-west in church work. The 
churches and the lodges need to be shak- 
en apart by some such mighty effort as 
President Finney, David Marks and 
Dwight L. Moody together would make 
if they were living. No one equal to the 
task dare lock horns with this long 
horned moloch. Yet it must be done be- 
fore any general Christian reformation 
can be brought about. 

A prominent, educated Baptist pastor 
and evangelist said to me ten years ago 
when I first came here, Brother Hubbell, 
the greatest barrier in the way of Chris- 
tian work in this south-western country 
is the lodges and I have lived here long 
enough to see it and know it. 

Rev. Mr. Sunday can stir up Wichita, 
Oklahoma City, Kansas City, Dallas, but 
in all such moves when Billy and his 
workers are gone church work drops 
right back into the lodge ruts as before. 

I wish Billy Sunday would dare put 
up a fight against the "secret devils." He 
dare not do it. It will take a Finney type 
of a man in this part of the country. 

I pray sometimes that God will pick 
his man or woman and send here. A 
Carrie Nation would do ; someone as un- 
compromising as God himself is needed. 

Were I younger I would make an open 
fight in this state against lodgism, but I 
shall do what I can privately. I have 
turned one Baptist preacher this summer 
into an open agitation against the lodges. 
- — Helena, Oklahoma. 



DRIVING THE SPIRIT OF GOD 
FROM THE CHURCH. 

Pastors who wish to retain the warmth 
of God's love among their flock must 
preach the truth as revealed in God's 
Word. A sudden chill must have come 
over the spiritual minded members of a 
church in Salem, Ohio, when their 
pastor, the Rev. H. H. Scott, gave the 
Masonic order prominence in a recent 
Sunday morning service. 

The Salem (Ohio) News, of June 27, 



192 1, gave the following report of the 
service : 

That Jesus Christ is the foundation 
stone already laid for the building of 
man's character and that He is also the 
great master builder of character was 
pointed out by Rev. H. H. Scott Sunday 
morning in a sermon on "The Masonry 
of Character" when he spoke to a large 
number of members of Perry lodge No. 
185, F. & A. M., and Salem chapter Xo. 
334, Order of the Eastern Star, whom he 
had invited to this service in observance 
of St. John's day. 

Rev. Mr. Scott likened the building 
of the temple by Solomon to the build- 
ing of character. He said, "Brethren you 
need not fear anything in time or eternity 
if linked up with the will of God." 

In opening the service Rev. Mr. Scott 
paid a tribute to Masonry. He said, "If 
there had been no church there would 
"have been no Masonry. Masonry has 
done its highest service to the church." 

Just above the pulpit a large American 
flag was hung and on the organ was a 
placard on which were the words "Wel- 
come, Perry lodge No. 185, F. & A. M." 
with the Masonic emblem. Flags were 
placed on each side of it. In front of the 
choir railing was a placard with the 
names of the presidents of the United 
States who were Masons. It was headed 
by George Washington and the list was 
concluded with President Warren G. 
Harding's name. 

In reading the above account one can 
readily see the departure from the truth 
as given in the Word. God was dis- 
honored and Christ was not welcome and 
when such is the case the Spirit of God 
cannot abide. 



Finish the day and be done with it. 
You have done what you could ; some 
blunders and absurdities crept in — for- 
get them as soon as you can. Tomorrow- 
is a new day. You shall begin it well 
and serenely, and with too high a spirit 
to be encumbered witli your old non- 
sense. — Emerson. 



We sometimes have to go through 
many hard experiences before we learn 
that the greatest joy in life is in being 
true to God and in living the life of love! 



17G 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



October, 1921. 



FOES OF APOSTOLIC CHRISTIANITY 

BY HAROLD C. MASON, 

Bishop, Pacific District. Church of the 
United Brethren in Christ, Con- 
stitution of 1 84 1. 

Is the world getting better or worse? 
It depends upon the world's attitude 
toward the Cross of Christ. Apostolic 
Christianity preached Jesus crucified and 
risen from- the dead, and emphasized the 
presence and power of the Holy Ghost. 
The evil one is seeking to appease the 
hunger for God in the human heart by 
false hopes and false worship. As the 
train passed Mt. Fusiyama, the sacred 
mount in Nippon, devotees looked with 
adoring eyes upon it. Native Africans 
for the first time hearing the chug-chug 
of an engine fell upon their faces to wor- 
ship the gasoline god ; the fat Mohamme- 
don driver knelt upon the carriage seat 
at the hour of prayer to be rudely thrown 
prone upon his back when the restless 
horses moved — an awakening as ludicrous " 
as the slap-stick procedure in the horse- 
play of an initiation. The world is full 
of false worship and false worship is a 
base foe of apostolic Christianity. 

A Christless creed which assures 
wicked men of salvation is a foe. "He 
that entereth not by the door into the 
sheep fold but climbeth up some other 
way, the same is a thief and a robber." 

It was a funeral. The deceased had 
been all his life notoriously wicked and 
died unrepentant. A Christian minister, 
a man of God, preached and prayed. He 
read from God's Word, Christians sang. 
but that was not enough. Three men in 
strange apparel of vivid hues which stood, 
out in peculiar contrast with the garb of 
mourning placed themselves about the 
casket and entered into a religious serv- 
ice. It was a religious service for there 
were mystic words spoken and a prayer 
was uttered. The Book of Books was 
suspended from the shoulders of a manu- 
facturer of soft drinks who appeared 
somewhat awkward in the role of bearer 
of sacred writ and to relieve the tension 
lighted a cigarette as soon as he got out- 
side the dwelling, pouring incense to the 
goddess Nicotine above the Holy Bible. 
The volume was not of the convenient 
Christian workers' size such as Gospel 
ministers and teachers carry. Now these* 
men represented an institution which a 



Christian friend told me was not a re- 
ligious but a social institution and one 
which did not interfere with any man's 
religion or politics. But in this instance 
it must supplement Christian worship 
with a Christless worship of its own, ■ 
even as Joe Smith must build an addition 
on to Christianity and Mary Baker Eddy 
must add further light. A long column 
of worldly men preceded the preacher's 
carriage to the cemetery and after his 
simple and earnest prayer with another 
season of Christless worship the notorious 
sinner was conveyed safely to the Grand 
Lodge above. Lodge universalism is a 
foe to apostolic Christianity and lodge 
worship does interfere with the religion 
of its adherents. 

A hardened sinner, a backslider, was 
asked last February to come to Jesus. He 
pointed defiantly to his lodge pin, but 
finally broken and penitent, bowed before 
the Saviour. For months he lived a 
beautiful Christian life but came to the 
moment of decision for or against se- 
crecy. He came to his pastor one Sunday 
morning, bade him good-bye and left the 
church in which he had been led to Jesus 
and in which he had been often blessed, 
having compromised rather than leave 
the ungodly ties which bound him. 

The lodge system opposes apostolic 
Christianity not only in its false worship 
but in its social activities. It is a hot-bed 
of worldliness. Banquetings and sur- 
feitings abound. ''Whose God is their 
belly." It is a revival of the luxurious, 
sensuous customs which marked the fall 
of Rome and the age of Noah. A Chris- 
tian man of my acquaintance was asked 
by members of the lodge to which he be- 
longs to contribute two dollars to a dance 
under its auspices. He refused to sup- 
port the dance but still supports the order 
which supports the dance. The church, 
even during special evangelistic efforts, 
gets but little opportunity -to reach men's 
minds and hearts. The religion of a good 
time here and the grand lodge above here- 
after, like the paradise of Islam, keeps 
people from the cross of Christ. It is the 
world religion of self-indulgence pitted 
against the self-denying doctrines of 
apostolic Christianity. 

The lodge system opposes apostolic 
Christianity in posing as an agent of 
charity equal with and superior to the 



October, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSCkl- 



177 



church, and encouraging the world to 
discredit the Christian church as an hu- 
manitarian agency. Hospitals, homes and 
hospitality have marked Christianity since 
the days of the miracles of our Lord. 
The poor, the maimed, the halt, the blind 
have come without money and without 
price. Famine lands have been visited; 
the Red Cross has been established, the 
saloon abolished and conditions of pov- 
erty relieved by the power of the Cross. 
J n addition to its vast charities the church 
has had the necessity placed upon it to 
propagate the Gospel, the ministry has 
been maintained and missionaries have 
•been sent throughout the world. The 
church has with open arms greeted 
women and children, the aged, the weak 
in mind and body. Not so with this self- 
righteous, worldly religious institution. 
Lodge charity is no more charity than 
sickness and accident, and life insurance 
is charity. 

Secret orders are foes of apostolic 
Christianity in that they, from their very 
nature, promote clannishness and selfish- 
ness. If they teach equal consideration 
for all, then why the exclusiveness and 
secrecy in practice? Perversion of jus- 
tice, discrimination in bestowal of favors 
mark the lodge. 

Apostolic Christianity is attacked on 
all sides today while this hydra-headed 
monster shelters in its shadow ration- 
alist. .Mormon, Jew, Mohammedan, 
Buddhist. A man may be a foe indeed to 
Jesus and find sworn fellowship in the 
Christless worship of lodgism. Good men 
of the ages have been claimed as mem- 
bers, but the spurned and rejected Gali- 
lean, thank God, did not "belong." 



THE UNITED PRESBYTERIAN 
CHURCH. 

BY S. V. ORR, LOVELAND, COLORADO. 

By surrendering her testimony against 
the secret lodge empire she became but 
a coalition of discordant and antagonis- 
tic religions. "It had been better not 
to have known the way of righteousness 
than after they had known it to turn 
from the holy commandment; but it is 
happened to them according to the true 
proverb: the dog is relumed to his own 
vomit again, and the sow that was 
washed to her wallowing in the mire." 

The church professes Christ as a Di- 



vine Mediator in whose name alone inter- 
eession is made. This the lodge ignores, 
and forbids use of his name in their 
lodge-work and prayers. The wretched 
travesty of the Christian religion by 
Knight Templars with swords and trap- 
pings and the horrid caricature of the 
Lord's Supper in .their "Fifth Libation" 
by drinking wine from a human skull, 
and invoking a penalty of a double 
damnation in case of failure to keep their 
horrible oaths ; and asking God to be a 
party by keeping them steadfast in die 
performance of such unholy compac 
terrible to contemplate ! How men in 
their right minds can consent to such 
unhallowed alliances surpasses all under- 
standing, and painfully taxes faith in 
their honesty and piety. 

"Can a man take fire into his bosom 
and his clothes not be burned?" Much 
less can the church take the lodge-fire 
into her bosom and escape a far greater 
ealamity ! 

"No man can serve two masters." Xo 
less can the church serve Christ and the 
lodge- Belial. "Ye cannot serve God and 
mammon." The church tries this by 
serving the lodge for financial reasons, 
and suffers spiritually. 

"If the Lord be God follow him: but 
if Baal, then follow him." But do not 
attempt the impossible by trying to fol- 
low both. The church is trying this 
ly experiment in her lodge affiliation and 
with fearful consequences 

"Be not unequally yoked together with 
unbelievers ; for what fellowship hath 
righteousness with unrighteousness ? and 
what communion hath light with dark- 
ness? And what concord hath Christ 
with Belial? or what part hath he that 
believeth with an infidel Wherefore 
come out from among them, and be ye 
separate, saith the Lord, and touch not 
the unclean thing and \ will receive you 
saith the Lord." 

"1 spake openly to the world 
and in secret have 1 said nothing." 



Life's real experience is that joy and 
pain alternate; a due mixture is 
tor us- shadow and sun for every one. 



Young men are told they must In 
mixers in order to succeed, hut they have 
to mix something besides home brew. 



ITS 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



October, 1921. 



THE CHILD. 

BY AMANDA LAEMAN. 

The present age is the child age. We 
are told there has never been a time m 
the history of the world when the child 
received the attention it is receiving to- 
day. The public school is aiming more 
than ever to 'give the child an all-around 
education ; the medical profession is 
spending much time and energy, _ espe- 
cially in our cities, to save the life of 
the infant and to secure the child's high- 
est physical welfare; the law and juve- 
nile societies are proving themselves in- 
strumental in protecting the rights of the 
child; and last, but not least, the Chris- 
tian Church is seeking diligently to lead 
the child to know God and his Word. 
Truly it has been said, "The interests of 
childhood and youth -are the interests of 
mankind." 

Pastor Huckle of Baltimore pays a 
beautiful tribute to children in these 
words, "Some people think of children as 
a burden, or a bother, or an incon- 
venience, or an expense. They may be 
all this— but they are worth it. They are 
worth all they cost. Children help us 
renew our youth. *.* * Children make us 
kindly toward all children. They open up 
fountains of sympathy. Children teach 
us infinitely more than we can teach 
them. Children are really given to train 
up a parent in the way he should go. 
Children bring us messages straight from 
heaven — messages of innocence, tender- 
ness, dependence, love." 

Another writer says, "A child softens 
and purifies, the heart, warming and melt- 
ing it by its gentle presence; it enriches 
the soul by new feelings and awakens 
within it what is favorable to virtue. It 
is a beam of light, a fountain of love, a 
teacher whose lessons few can resist." 

It may be a new thought to some of us, 
but it is true that the child does become 
our teacher. As has been stated, it teach- 
es us love, sympathy, kindness and good- 
ness. Additional lessons we learn from 
it are unselfishness, trust and humility. A 
child is born into a home and how many 
comforts the parents must sacrifice for 
its sake. How many sleepless nights 
must be endured. How many outside 
pleasures must be sacrificed. Thus it 
teaches us to deny ourselves. Notice how 
naturally the child turns to its parent for 



help and comfort when a difficulty or 
hardship is encountered. Thus it teaches 
us to turn to our heavenly Father under 
all circumstances and to trust implicitly 
in Him. Christ twice made the child a 
pattern of humility to his followers. 
James Russel Lowell says, "Children are 
God's apostles, day by day, sent forth to 
preach love and hope and peace." 

The child not only has power to cause 
us to become nobler and better, but it has 
claims upon us that we sometimes scarce- 
ly realize. In this connection we will 
notice some things that we as parents 
owe our children. 

In the first place we owe them a wel- * 
come birth. I wish we could all realize 
the largeness of the gift God bestows 
upon us when He sends a child to bless 
our home. How blessed the lot of child- 
hood would be if all children would re- 
ceive a welcome such as the child Samuel 
received at his birth. 

We owe our children a moral and 
Christian training that begins at a very 
early age. With even the tiny infant we 
need to be firm. All of us perhaps have 
seen small children who were on a fair 
way to be spoiled by being allowed to 
rule the house, and being allowed their 
every slightest wish. This we want to 
avoid by firmness and allowing them only 
such things as are for their good. 

Children should be taught to respect 
the parents' rightful authority and to be 
obedient — as commanded by the apostle, 
"Children, obey your parents in the 
Lord." 

With all the careful training we owe 
our children along every line, we owe 
them a great deal of love. Children's 
lives without a great deal of love thrown 
in are greatly lacking. Children, as a 
rule, are active, happy, good and self- 
reliant in the presence of those who love 
and trust them. 

Besides the love we owe our children, 
we owe them commendation for all their 
faithful efforts at being good. It is often 
true that we notice every mistake, every 
fault, and enlarge upon these more than 
necessary at times, and forget entirely to 
praise them when they have done well. 
Patterson Dubois says in "Fireside Child 
Study," "Make a special effort to dis- 
cover every good trait in your children." 
This is a duty we owe our children and 



October, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



179 



will go a great deal farther in training 
them for the right than we may think. 

We owe our children attention and in- 
terest in their little affairs. There is no 
surer way of losing their confidence than 
to neglect them, or push them aside when 
they come to us with their little everyday 
interests. Once having lost their con- 
fidence we have lost a great deal. 

As our children grow older, we owe 
them our companionship. I believe the 
majority of children who go wrong are 
those who have not had the debt of their 
parents' companionship paid them. They 
go elsewhere to seek companionship and 
find it often in places that are not good. 

We owe our children gentleness and 
patience. "Be ever gentle with the chil- 
dren God has given you," says one writer. 
Watch over them constantly ; reprove 
them earnestly, but not in anger. In the 
forcible language of Scripture, "Be not 
bitter against them/' "Yes, they are good 
boys," said a kind father. "I talk to them 
much but I do not beat my children ; the 
world will beat them." It was a beauti- 
ful thought, though not elegantly ex- 
pressed. 

The home is the first place for the 
spiritual instruction and training of the 
child. The Christian culture of the child 
should be our first thought concerning it. 

What a privilege we have to teach our 
children about the kind heavenly Father 
who cares for the flowers, the birds and 
all the creatures of the fields; and most 
of all for little children and their parents. 
What a privilege is ours to tell them 
about the great love of God for us, as 
his children, and how we should love 
one another. What a privilege to give 
them their first ideas of right, and of life 
here and in the beautiful home beyond. 
So great and so wonderful are these privi- 
leges and so great is our responsibility 
that at times we are almost overwhelmed 
by the thought of them. 

Not only has the child claims upon its 
parents, but also upon the one who pre- 
sumes to give it spiritual instruction in 
the Sunday school. There was a time 
when children received less attention than 
at present, when it was thought that any 
one could teach little ones ; but we have 
learned something of their claims upon 
us in this direction and are now careful 



that those who are chosen to teach them 
are adapted to the work. 

As Sunday school teachers we owe it 
to the child to study to know something 
of its nature and its individuality in order 
that we may know the better how to pre- 
sent the Word in a way that shall make 
the deepest, most lasting impression. We 
realize that child nature is plastic, im- 
pressionable, most easily molded, like clay 
in the potter's hand. 

Children's hearts contain the most fer- 
tile soil in the world for sowing the seed 
of the Word of God. Among the char- 
acteristics of the child, as given by Mc- 
Kinney, are ''imagination, curiosity, imi- 
tation, activity, affection and reverence." 
If we are able to arouse a child's curiosity 
so that he is anxious to know about the 
lesson we desire to teach, and his imagina- 
tion is appealed to by pictures and ob- 
jects, the attention given will produce or- 
der and you may rest assured that the 
desired results will be obtained. To do 
this is our problem. Let us give time and 
thought to it. The child is affectionate 
and socially inclined. It wants compan- 
ionship ; it does not like to be alone. Its 
affections are not hard to win by one who 
loves children. Having won the child's 
love, the teacher's task is rendered com- 
paratively easy. 

Imitation often proves a dangerous 
faculty. Some Sundays ago a boy who 
is an irregular attendant in our primary 
department was present and in the course 
of the lesson folded his Sunday school 
paper and blew into it in such a way as 
to make an ugly rasping sound, and it 
was surprising to note how quickly 
six or eight other boys followed his bad 
example and greatly disturbed several of 
our teachers. It is true on the other hand, 
desirable traits and features are often 
imitated, which is for the good of the 
child and tends to our encouragement. 
The child is active. It always wants to 
be doing something. It is worth our 
while to study how to direct this activity 
in proper channels. Otherwise it will be 
employed in a way which will prove 
detrimental to the school. 

Concerning the value of a reverential 
mood, Elizabeth Harrison writes. "Much 
of the well-intended primary Sunday 
school work loses half of its efficiency 
from the teacher not understanding that 



5 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



October, 1921. 



the child must be in gentle, reverential 

mood before he can be in the right re- 
ligious attitude." Miss Burton, a primary 
Sunday school worker, writes to illustrate 
this point: "In teaching a primary class 
in one of our large city churches a teacher 
was heard to say to the children in sten- 
torian tones. 'Now, all look at the floor 
and we will pray." They looked at the 
floor but one was sadly reminded of vain 
repetitions indulged in by Pharisees of 
vore. How different would have been 
the effect On the children had the teacher 
said something like this : 'Let us fold 
our hands, for there is no work for them 
to do: we will take care of our feet: the 
eves may be closed and each one will 
help, for the great, loving, heavenly 
Father is listening for my thank you and 
vours. He knows and loves each one.' 
It is not only what we say to the chil- 
dren but the way in which we say it/' 

The sum of the child's claims upon us 
as Sunday school teachers, it seems to 
me, is this : That we create within him 
a desire to know and to love God and to 
know and to love his Word. Having ac- 
complished this we will have created 
within his heart the desire to do right — 
the desire to become a child of God and 
to live according to his Word. 

In conclusion I want to say, the future 
the home, the future of the Sunday 
school, the future of the Church is 
wrapped up in the children of today, and 
that whatever we as parents and Sunday 
school teachers are able to do for the 
children we do for the home, for the 
Sunday school, for the Church, and it 
may be for the nation and for the world. 
Let us, therefore, by all means, seek to 
pay our just duties, believing that God 
will add his blessing. 

Chicago, 111. 



A minister, in one of his visits through 

his parish, met a boy and asked him what 

o'clock it was. "It's just about twelve, 

?aid tie boy. "I thought it had been 

-aid the minister. 'Tt's never 

sir, for after twelve it just 

.gain," returned the urchin. 



"If we bad our lives to live over 
again,'' philosophizes Life, "'the proba- 
bilities are we could make our mistakes 
much more easily/ 5 



THE QUESTION OF THE HOUR. 

I'.V .MISS E. ]•:. FLAGG. 

CHAPTER XV. 
(Continued.) 

But to return to our publican. He was 
low and despised. Decent and respectable 
society would have shuddered at the very 
idea of admitting him within its pale ; but 
was there in his heart some latent seed 
of good, or did the prayers of his long- 
sainted Methodist mother come up in re- 
membrance before God, or was it that 
sublime, inscrutable purpose of Jehovah 
to have mercy on whom he will have 
mercy that wrought the miracle? For 
while theologians dispute over the nature 
and laws of miracles and look askance on 
cases of faith healing as a superstition of 
weak and simple minds, the work of the 
supernatural goes on in the same grandly 
immutable fashion with which the sun 
shines and the rain falls and the seasons 
come and go and ask no leave of any 
theological school. 

Mr. Peter Snyder had moments when 
his conscience was not at ease, and like 
the troubled sea when it cannot rest, it 
cast up mire and dirt. It was at these 
periodical seasons that he swore the loud- 
est and declaimed most violently against 
"hypocrites," under which comprehensive 
term he meant to include in a general 
way everybody who made any pretensions 
to be better than himself. For it must be 
explained that Mr. Snyder decidedly re- 
sented being classed among the world's 
off-scourings — its pariahs and its Ish- 
maels. In his own opinion he was no 
worse than the professing Christian who. 
for the sake of gain, rents his property to 
a saloonist, or the politician who, for the 
sake of securing votes, caters to the 
saloon interest, or the public official who 
winks at violations of the law in his Ma- 
sonic brethren ; and on the whole, looking 
at the subject from an unprejudiced point 
of view, we are inclined to think him in 
the right. 

So when it was reported that a series 
of revival meetings were going to be held 
in the neighborhood, Mr. Snyder had con- 
siderable to say on the subject, but we 
will not take the trouble of transcribing 
his remarks as the reader can easily im- 
agine their general drift and tenor. 

''They say Elder Wood is a goin' to 
come down on the Masons red hot. That'll 



October, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



181 



suit you, Snyder," chuckled Jack Bender, 
who, with several other red-nosed and 
bloated specimens of humanity, was 
lounging round the bar-room stove, dis- 
cussing the forthcoming meetings in that 
free and liberal style with which such 
matters are generally argued under the 
inspiration of an atmosphere reeking with 
oaths and tobacco smoke. 

"You don't say so," responded the 
worthy proprietor of the establishment ; 
and after an instant's reflection he 
brought his fist down on the counter and 
roared out with a tremendous oath : 

"Then I'll go to hear him." 

Jack laughed. 

"Did ye hear that, boy? Snyder is 
willing to go to hear the water saint jist 
for the fun of hearing him blow up the 
Masons. If that ain't about the nighest 
to cutting oft* yer nose to spite yer face 
as anything / ever hearn on." 

But Mr. Snyder's resolution was not 
of a kind to be shaken by a little harm- 
less chaffing. 

"I don't care if it is," he responded 
fiercely. "I've said I'll go, and I will go. 
And now jist look here. Any of ye as 
goes to acting off shines on the preacher 
will have me agin him square. I give ye 
fair warning." 

This was not altogether an idle threat, 
as Mr. Snyder had been in former days 
a pugilist of considerable local renown. 
Even now he was a match for three row- 
dies like Jack Bender. 

Good Elder Wood had no idea that the 
rough, hardened-looking man who took 
his station close to the platform and 
listened with such edifying attention was 
really playing the part of a protecting 
angel; still less of the strange leadings 
through which God was about to glorify 
his name by one of those signal triumphs 
of redeeming grace which in the biog- 
raphies of a Bunyan or a Newton seem 
to show us as by a lightning Hash the un- 
searchable depths in that love which pass- 
eth knowledge. 

Neither was any such thought in the 
mind of Peter Snyder when he went to 
hear this anti-rum, anti-tobacco, anti- 
lodge apostle. His anger against the Ma- 
sons had burned with a steady flame ever 
since they refused him admission into 
their "ancient and honorable fraternitv." 



I fe understood tin- i easons foi this i e 
fusal perfectly well. It was not because 

he sold rum. It was not because he was 
a profane, hardened sinner. He knew 
that the lodge took in others as profane 

and hardened as himself; that being a 
brewer, distiller or dealer in alcoholic 
liquors was never in itself a bar to mem- 
bership. But a low, illiterate and alto- 
gether disreputable rumseller could be no 
honor to the craft ; and so the lodge sim- 
ply acted with a keen eye to its own credit 
in thus turning upon him, as we have 
seen, the cold shoulder, and treating him 
in the same manner, in short, in which it 
treats women, fools, cripples, negroes, 
minors and old men in their dotage 

He waited with a satisfied smile on his 
face to hear the elder begin on the sub- 
ject of Masonry. The most scathing ex- 
posure of lodge hypocrisy and fraud 
would have been as nectar to Peter Sny- 
der's soul. But suddenly, with the power 
of a tw T o -edged sword dividing the joints 
and marrow, God's truth struck him. 
transfixed him in an agony. He forgot 
what he came to the meeting for. He 
forgot everything but one terrible fact — 
that he was a sinner. It seemed as if he 
heard the very hissing of the unquench- 
able flames, and felt their breath in his 
face. Pie shivered, his features worked 
convulsively, and then with one despair- 
ing groan he fell forward in front of the 
preacher's stand and lay as one from 
whom the life had departed. 

The early history of Methodism, both 
in England and America, abounds with 
instances of strong conviction inducing a 
kind of cataleptic state, especially in 
rough, uneducated natures, as if the body 
lay for the time a bound and helpless 
captive to the spirit over which it has so 
long held brutal domination. They be- 
long for the most part to a religious era 
that has passed away, but now and then 
a similar combination of causes will pro- 
duce a similar effect. And whether struck 
down 1>\ a supernatural power directly 
exerted, or as modern materialism would 
explain it, by intense excitement causing 
temporary paralysis o\ the great nerve 
centers, the result in Peter Snyder's case 
could not have been serioiisly altered by 
either conclusion. He always averred 
that while lying in that strange trance 
he saw the Lord, and those who knew 



182 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



October, 1921. 



1 inn before his conversion never felt in- 
clined to doubt the statement. 

He came to himself no longer a swear- 
ing rough, but meek and gentle as a little 
child, and the first thing he did to attest 
the depth and genuineness of his conver- 
sion was to roll out every cask of liquor 
in his shanty and empty their contents 
into the creek which ran back of his 
dwelling. 

He bappened to be engaged in this em- 
ployment when Dennis O'Sullivan, a reg- 
ular habitue of his establishment, came to 
get his black demijhon filled. He gazed 
on the frightful waste too spellbound 
with horror to utter even an exclamation, 
till he saw him knock out the head of the 
last cask. Then he could contain him- 
self no longer. He rushed forward in 
the vain hope of saving it from the gen- 
eral destruction, but already half its con- 
tents had mingled with the waters of the 
creek and gone to poison the fishes. He 
made a maddened grab to catch some of 
the precious liquid, cursing himself mean- 
while for bringing a demijohn instead of 
a dipper. But he was too late, and with 
a howl of rage and disappointment he 
turned and fled, as he honestly believed, 
from the presence of a lunatic, astonish- 
ing Mrs. O'Sullivan by the unheard-of 
phenomenon of his return home at an 
early hour with his demijohn unfilled, 
and perfectly sober. 

The news of Peter Snyder's conver- 
sion spread far and wide through the re- 
gion. He was as strong an anti-Mason 
as before, though from very different 
motives. His opinion of the lodge from 
his new standpoint he one day expressed 
to Deacon Weatherby, who rejoiced over 
this brand plucked from the burning, as 
only saints and angels can rejoice. 

"A long time ago," said he, "I wanted 
to jine the Masons, and I felt dreadfully 
cut up because they blackballed me. Now 
I've he'erd some folks say that the lodge 
was as good as the church, but jist see 
the difference. Has Masonry got a word 
of kindness for the poor wretch that 
everybody despises? When he's sinking 
in the miry clay of his sin, will it go to 
him and try to help lift him out? Will it 
show him the Lord Jesus as / see him a 
hangin' on the cross with the nails in his 
hands and feet, and say, 'There, poor 
sinner; you've hated the only One that 



kin save you, but there he is a dyin' that 
you may live.' When Masonry will do 
that it may call itself as good as the 
church, but till it does it is a swindle, a 
cheat and a devil's lie." 

But as Peter Snyder is to reappear 
again in our story, we will leave him for 
the present and go back to Jacksonville. 
CHAPTER XVI. 

DRIVEN FORTH. 

"You must leave Jacksonville," said 
Martin Treworthy, decidedly, as he paced 
up and down the hermitage. "If you stay 
here your life won't be worth insuring." 

"But Tom — what will he do without 
me ?" 

"Oh, that's settled easily enough. I 
can take charge of him for awhile. Tom 
and I are good friends." 

"But it will be too much trouble for 
you," said Nelson, doubtfully. 

"I never expected to live without 
trouble," answered Martin, dryly, "and 
anybody that does will be amazingly dis- 
appointed." 

Nelson was silent a moment, doing 
meanwhile a good deal of painful think- 
ing. It was to him a bitter cup to be thus 
driven forth to a new field of combat, and 
all because he had sought too faithfully 
the welfare of his class and fought too 
bravely against the anti-Christian forces 
that were seeking to drag them all to one 
common, brutish level of the beasts that 
perish. And if he had voiced his own 
thought at that instant it would have been 
to utter the wail of the old Hebrew 
prophet, "My people are destroyed for 
lack of knowledge." 

"Yes," he said, "I will go. And after 
all it is for Tom's sake." 

Martha and her aunt lived in the im- 
mediate neighborhood of the riot. They 
had passed a troubled and anxious night, 
and when in the early morning there 
came a tap at the door, Martha hastened 
to open it with a premonition of coming 
ill. Nelson stood there, his face black- 
ened and bruised where the rioters' 
missiles had struck him, and haggard 
with want of rest. She suppressed a 
slight scream, and in a few brief words 
he explained the situation. 

"Yes, you must go," she said firmly, 
but with pallid lips, "for Tom's sake — 
and mine." 

"I know I can find work of some kind 



October, 1921 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



183 



somewhere else," responded Nelson, 
thinking how just like Martha it was to 
put herself last. "Tom, poor fellow, has 
taken it into his head that I am going off 
to find the farm I have talked to him so 
much about, and I let him keep the idea. 
I didn't know but it might make him 
happier and more contented. He will miss 
me sadly." 

'"Well," answered Martha, her bright, 
brave woman's nature asserting itself, 
"let us take a lesson in child-like trust 
from Tom. Between the stores on Mr. 
Treworthy's medicine shelf and the dain- 
ty dishes I shall compound up to tempt 
his appetite, we will work wonders. But 
you must not stay," she added with a 
slight shiver. "You must go. God bless 
and keep you, Nelson." 

And so Nelson turned his back on 
Jacksonville and went forth, not knowing 
whither he went. 

He had laid Schumacher's information 
promptly before the mayor, but the latter 
had been disposed to receive it rather in- 
credulously. Like too many aspirants to 
public service, he liked office but hated 
trouble, and so far the coveted mayoralty 
had not brought him much of anything 
else. The temperance agitators would 
not let him alone, but kept reminding him 
by implication, if not in plainer terms, of 
his unfulfilled promises. The strike had 
added another element of uneasiness to 
his overflowing cup, and now here was a 
secret society of Anarchists to ferret out. 
It is a disagreeable necessity to have to 
fight one's own kith and kin. Let us pity 
Jacksonville's unfortunate mayor. 

''This is an extraordinary statement — 
most extraordinary in fact," he said, as 
he nervously fingered his watch-chain, 
which was so heavily weighted with the 
various mystic insignia of the different 
secret orders to which he belonged as to 
be quite .a marvel to the uninitiated. He 
was a little man. rather fussy and impor- 
tant, the sort who bustle about on days 
of processions and displays as if in their 
native element, but are mere nonentities, 
or worse, when any sudden crisis calls for 
energetic action. "Of course we shall 
look into this matter, but we can't arrest 
without knowing the place of meeting or 
the names of some of the members. 1 
don't see as the law can do much till they 



actually commit some overt act and so 
furnish us with some kind of a clue." 

Whether Schumacher would have 
made a fuller revelation had death de- 
layed the stroke a moment longer was a 
question that Nelson never quite an- 
swered to his own satisfaction. To know 
that such an organization existed among 
the workmen, and that he himself was 
one of the predestined victims, filled him 
not so much with emotions of personal 
fear as with a kind of horror in which 
individual feelings had no share. Xo. io 
had gone before a tribunal where all se- 
cret oaths taken in darkness and ignor- 
ance are null and voil, but it had not yet 
occurred to him to wonder who would 
take the place of Xo. io. He had been 
irritated by the mayor's want of backbone 
on the liquor question, and as he started 
for the door could not forbear giving him 
this one sharp thrust. 

"A simultaneous raid on all the un- 
licensed liqupr dens of Jacksonville 
would, in my opinion, discover both the 
leaders and their place of meeting with- 
out waiting for some life to be sacrificed 
first. It is in these dens that this Social- 
ist mischief is brewed. The screens that 
hide one iniquity are just as convenient 
to hide another. I have told all I know 
in regard to this matter and now it re- 
mains for the authorities to act — and act 
promptly." 

Jacksonville's chief functionary was 
unused to such a vigorous style of ad- 
dress from a common workman, and the 
reader will not probably wonder that he 
did not like it over much. It must be 
acknowledged that Nelson in his rough 
garb and his stern, rebuking speech might 
have passed with a very little stretch of 
fancy on the mayor's part for an incar- 
nation of all those disturbing social ques- 
tions which nowadays make official path- 
ways so disagreeably thorny. 

Matthew Densler read the note of 
warning which Nelson contrived to dis- 
patch to him with a face as imperturbable 
as if it had been a report on the condition 
of the money market. The hard-handed 
and hard-headed millionaire was made of 
very unimpressionable material and 
shared to some extent that Napoleonic 
belief in fate which is rather common in 
men who. without much faith in the 
guiding hand oi a higher Power, have 



184 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



October, 1921. 



carved out their own destinies. If it was 
his fate to die by bullet or dynamite, why, 
he should, and nothing could avert it. It 
was disagreeable to contemplate, but so 
was death in any form. Meanwhile, to 
Matthew Densler's shrewd mind, trained 
to forecast chances in the financial world 
to a hair's breadth, and not without con- 
siderable keenness of sight at reading the 
signs of the times politically, this was a 
very threatening and dangerous state of 
affairs. Anarchy was in the air. This 
discontent, this spirit of rebellion and re- 
volt, everywhere meant something — 
something ominous, something dread. But 
he comforted himself as did Hezekiah of 
old, and Louis XIV. in more modern 
times, by reflecting that the social earth- 
quake which these things portended would 
not be likely to come in his day. And 
then he took ink and paper and rapidly 
wrote two checks, each for a considerable 
amount, and the next day sent them to 
the families of the men who had been 
killed in the riot. 

Martin Treworthy, when he heard of 
it, only shook his grizzly head with the 
characteristic remark, "He's rung truer 
than most of 'em would, but there's fire 
under all this smoke, and it's justice, not 
almsgiving, that's going to put it out." 
CHAPTER XVII. 

KILKENNY CATS. 

Aii organized secrecy appeals to nearly 
every passion of the human heart, it is 
not strange that it should draw into its 
net fish of every kind. With Schumacher 
the governing idea had grown to be this : 
that the laboring classes were wronged, 
that they by no means had their rightful 
share in the distribution of that wealth 
which their hands created. And as the 
best wine makes the sharpest vinegar, so 
that constitutional hatred of oppression 
which might under other circumstances 
have made him a patriot, under the 
atheistic, anti-republican influence of the 
secret lodge system made him a conspira- 
tor. l ; or Mr. Gerrish we cannot say as 
much. Born and bred in the Roman 
Catholic church, his rebound from its re- 
straints had been accompanied by a fierce, 
unreasoning hate of all law, ecclesiastical 
or civil. He possessed naturally the qual- 
ities for a conspirator, the coolness, the 
adroitness the mixture of boldness and 
craft; and under no circumstances would 



he have been anything else. The other 
members were chiefly foreigners whose 
future labor millennium was a social 
revolution in which all property lines 
should be obliterated, all obstructionists 
destroyed, and everybody be as good as 
another. 

Exactly how this state of affairs was 
to be brought about they did not know, 
but they had great faith in what their 
leaders told them, that it was going to be 
accomplished some way, and they were 
not of a class to be much troubled with 
any philosophic or moral doubts. 

The tidings of Schumacher's revelation 
spread like wildfire. Jacksonville stood 
aghast at this discovery of a society of 
modern Thugs in her midst, and very 
reasonably ; but is it possible that the 
good people who talked it over and ex- 
claimed, "Awful ! terrible ! What is the 
world coming to !" were ignorant of the 
fact that a secret order comprising half a 
million members known as Free and Ac- 
cepted Masons, scattered over the coun- 
try and meeting nightly on their high 
places, were bound by oath to obey every 
summons of their leaders and shield every 
brother, right or wrong, under no less a 
penalty than throat-cutting, disembowel- 
ling, and a burial in the sea at high water- 
mark where the tide ebbs and flows once 
in twenty-four hours? — oaths of which 
that uncompromising old statesman, John 
Quincy Adams, once wrote that "a can- 
nibal ought to be ashamed"? But as we 
happen to know that some of these good 
people had taken those very oaths them- 
selves, while others had accepted without 
examination the witness of friends and 
acquaintances that "Masonry is a good 
thing," the theory of ignorance is not ex- 
actly tenable, and we can only find a rea- 
son for their bitter denunciations of a 
handful of Socialist workmen who were 
only putting their own Masonic princi- 
ples into practice, on that broad and gen- 
eral ground of human inconsistency 
which accounts for so many strange 
things. 

The order of the Brothers of the Red 
Mark was thrown into consternation. 
They could not be sure how much or how 
little was known to the authorities. But 
one thing was certain, Nelson Newhall 
was with Schumacher in his last mo- 
ments, and soon after he had suddenly 



October, 1921 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



185 



and quietly left Jacksonville. The. warn- 
ing that he was "spotted" must have come 
from No. 10; but death had stepped be- 
tween and all the vengeance they could 
wreak on the traitor was to pass a reso- 
lution, when they next met in secret con- 
clave, consigning his memory to everlast- 
ing disgrace and infamy among all true 
and worthy brothers. 

The meeting was a stormy and excited 
one — pandemonium on a small scale. 
Some of the members had really shrank 
with horror from the plans of the organ- 
ization as slowly unfolded before them, 
but fear of the consequences should they 
divulge anything, and also something of 
the same regard for their oath that Herod 
felt when he beheaded John the Baptist, 
had kept them quiet. But now they saw 
a way out. And so the brotherhood was 
broken into two separate factions, one 
proposing to disband till a more favor- 
able time for carrying out their peculiar 
scheme of social amelioration, the other 
denouncing all cessation of warfare as a 
cowardly compromise with robber capi- 
talists and moneyed despots. 

Some of these poor laborers had begun 
to realize in dim fashion that they had 
been robbed of time, wages, manhood 
and self-respect ; that the conspiracy 
against society into which they had been 
inveigled had only made public sentiment 
their enemy and now threatened to turn 
against them the sword of law ; and fur- 
thermore, that all this mattered very little 
to such leaders as Mr. Patrick Gerrish, 
whose chief concern at this critical junc- 
ture appeared to be concentrated on the 
one point of escaping himself out of the 
imbroglio with a whole skin. Reynolds, 
to do him justice, had been to a certain 
degree sincere in his advocacy of the 
laborer's rights. He had acted the part 
of a sycophant and a toady, but, as we 
have seen, not without some stormy in- 
terludes between him and his chief. 

But we will give the reader for another 
and, we are happy to add, the last time, a 
free ticket of admission into the beer 
saloon which was their chosen place of 
meeting. 

"Brothers of the Red Mark," shouted 
No. 5, a fiery little German radical, the 
power of whose lungs seemed to be in 
inverse ratio to his size; "the tocsin of 
liberty shall one day resound through the 



length and breadth of the land, and the 
banners of the Social Revolution be plant- 
ed on every church and public building. 
Lei us bide our time, but keep to our 
motto: Down with tyrant capitalists, 
down with priestcraft ; down with law, 
down with government— they are allies 
of both; but in secret let us agitate, or- 
ganize, plan, till the time is ripe for open 
revolt. All who counsel submission are 
traitors and ought to be treated as 
traitors."' 

This speech of No. 5, delivered with a 
foreign accent which we have not tried to 
reproduce, caused a most uproarious and 
tumultuous scene between the opposing 
factions, one side feeling themselves per- 
sonally branded with this opprobrious 
title, the other taunting them with its 
justice till fierce recriminations, dire 
threats and shaking of fists, added to too 
much liquor in their brains, culminated 
at last in a free fight. 

The unpleasant passage between the 
two leaders mentioned in a former chap- 
ter had caused a breach which was not 
healed over. Reynolds feared Gerrish; 
Gerrish distrusted Reynolds. The latter 
had outwardly acquiesced in the plan of 
the former for ending the strike by ar- 
bitration, but reflection convinced even 
his rather obtuse mind of two facts. 
While he himself had not the smallest 
hope of being reinstated in his old place, 
and was therefore interested to have the 
strike continue as long as possible, the 
case with the other one was widely differ- 
ent. That gentleman was, as we have 
stated before, a labor agitator by profes- 
sion. It wa> his usual policy to stay long 
enough in a place to stir up all the trouble 
he could between workmen and their em- 
ployers, but never to prolong a strike be- 
yond the point when it ceased to lie for 
his personal advantage to do so. 

On the whole Reynolds had some rea- 
son to feel dissatisfied with his reward 
for the cat's-paw part he had played, and 
in the contest he now took sides with the 
opposite faction and boldly accused his 
quondam leader with a cowardly deser- 
tion o\ their cause. Gerrish retorted with 
laconic sarcasm. 

"Look out." answered Reynolds, an- 
grily, "M can tell a story that would send 
you to the gallows." 

Perhaps there was more swagger than 



186 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



October, 1.921. 



real truth in this statement, but to a man 
conscious that his past life had been full 
of ugly episodes, the threat could not fail 
to have a disagreeable sound. 

'"Liar !" hissed the one. 

"Traitor!" thundered the other. 

And in the confusion nobody saw just 
when or how. Gerrish gave Reynolds a 
deadly stab. He managed to stagger out 
into the street with a cry of murder 
which brought the police to the spot. 
They made a few arrests, which did not, 
however, include the principal actor in 
the tragedy. 

At this point, very much to our relief, 
and doubtless to our readers, Mr. Patrick 
Gerrish fades from our story. At pres- 
ent he figures as an Irish dynamiter, a 
line of business for which his talent pe- 
culiarly fits him. 

And so the Brotherhood gave up the 
ghost in a drunken brawl and was heard 
of no more. And as the Grand Union 
refused to sustain the strike any longer, 
the deceived and betrayed workmen were 
only too glad to resume work at the for- 
mer prices. 

Stephen How-land sent a copy of the 
Jacksonville Patriot to the old couple who 
were thinking of him and praying for 
him in that far-off village among the New 
Hampshire hills, with a lengthy article in 
it bearing these headlines : Startling' 
revelations ! A secret society of Ku 
Klux among the laborers unearthed by a 
murder in a saloon. A manufacturer and 
a young workman on the marked list. 
The latter leaves the place to save his life. 

"Jacksonville must be awfully wicked," 
observed Mr. Josiah Howland, after read- 
ing it over carefully to his wife who 
heard it in silence. "I kinder wish Ste- 
phen could have made up his mind to 
stay East." 

Mrs. Phoebe, in her mother's yearning 
after her first born, had often been tempt- 
ed to wish the same thing, but she always 
changed it to a prayer: "Deliver him, O 
Lord, from the temptation that is about 
him, and bring him safe into thy heavenly 
kingdom." So she only answered, quietly : 

"Well, I don't know, father. If the 
Lord led him there it must be for some 
good purpose. Let us wait and see." 

Mrs. Phoebe's whole life was a blessed 
waiting time. She loved and prayed and 
worked; and when she reached the limit 



of the possible in human action, she let 
the threads go without a careful or 
anxious thought. She had done her part. 
Another would perfect the web. 

"All this agitating, and shaking, and 
overturning, only seems to me like one 
of the signs of the end," she added. 
"Men's hearts failing them for fear and 
for looking for those things which shall 
come upon the earth." 

For Mrs. Phoebe, to a New England 
matron's clearness of mind and keen 
grasp of all common, every-day subjects, 
added a mystical side — a delight in the 
mysterious, the sublime, the incompre- 
hensible. And it was in keeping with this 
part of her nature that she should joy 
in the thought of the Second Advent and 
see in all the portentous signs of the 
political and social heavens but the omens 
of His near approach who will judge the 
earth in righteousness, and whose coming 
will be with burning and fuel of fire. 

"I can't see," said Mr. Josiah Howland, 
"why people are not more awake to the 
dangers of secret societies. Mason and 
Odd-Fellow and Good Templar's lodges 
are fairly eating out the life of the 
churches. I've been seeing it this good 
while though I hain't said much, not per- 
haps as much as I ought to. We wonder 
there ain't no revivals, and we labor and 
pray, and have meetings, and try to get 
up an interest — only to have the lodge 
steal away our converts. Tf such things 
are done in a green tree, what shall be 
done in the dry?' If ministers see no 
harm in secret societies, why should ig- 
norant workingmen? I take it that the 
church must be purified first before the 
world will grow much better." 

''' 'And if the salt have lost its savor, 
wherewith shall it be seasoned/ " softly 
repeated Mrs. Phoebe Howland. 
(To Be Continued.) 



Get rid of your regrets. You are 
what you are on account of what you 
have experienced. And, rightly under- 
stood and accepted, all experiences are 
good, and the bitter ones best of all. I 
feel sorry for the souls who have never 
suffered. — Elbert Hubbard. 



The rewards of choosing to serve God 
uncompromisingly are abundant and 
satisfying. 



October, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



187 




WM. H. SEWARD. 

William H. Seward, Secretary of State 
under Abraham Lincoln, and at one time 
Governor of New York and U. S. Sen- 
ator, said in a speech in the Senate: 

"Secret societies, sir? Before I would 
place my hand between the hands of 
other men, in a secret lodge, order or 
council, and, bending on my knee before 
them, enter into combination with them 
for any object, personal or political, good 
or bad, I would pray to God that that 
hand and that knee might be paralyzed, 
and that I might become an object of pity 
and even the mockery of my fellowmen. 
Swear, sir? I, a man, an American citi- 
zen, a Christian, swear to submit myself 
to the guidance and direction of other 
men, surrendering my own judgment to 
their judgments, and my own conscience 
to their keeping? No! No, sir ! I know 
quite well the fallibility of my judgment, 
and my liability to fall into error and 
temptation. But my life has been spent 
in breaking the bonds of the slavery of 
men. I, therefore, know too well the 
danger of confiding power to irrespon- 
sible hands to make myself a willing 
slave." 



Silence is a great peacemaker. 
Whom God appoints He anoints. 



JHeto* of ®uv Wiovk 



We have had some inquiries as to the 
relation of Rev. Paul Rader, for some 
time pastor of the Moody Church, Chi- 
cago, to secret societies and also requests 
for his personal testimony. We have not 
been able to get anything more definite 
from him than is contained in the letter 
which we publish herewith. 

Our letter to Rev. Paul Rader is as 
follows : 

Chicago, December 9th, 1916. 
Rev. Paul Rader, 
Care of The Moody Church, 
Chicago. 
Dear Brother : 

Will you please furnish the National 
Christian Association with your personal 
testimony as to secret societies and rea- 
sons for separation from them ? 

We will appreciate the favor of such 
a contribution from you and the privilege 
of adding it to the others in "The Moody 
Church Pulpit Testimonies" on secret 
societies. 

Yours very truly, 
(Signed) Wm. I. Phillips, Secretary. 
December 13, 1916. 



Mr. Wm. I. Phillips, 
Chicago, Illinois. 
My dear Mr. Phillips : 

Thus far I have not written anything 
as requested in your letter. We have got- 
ten a decided stand on this question into 
our Moody Church Manual and I have a 
great deal to say about it as I speak in 
different parts of the country and at 
home. I will have one of my sermons 
which contains something along this line 
taken by the stenographer and get it to 
you but I cannot say just when. 
Yours in Him. 

1 Signed) Paul Rader. 



lie that was a way to others, never 
went out of the way himself. 



Rev. A. 11. Leaman, for twenty-six 
years a successful city missionary who 
edited the Christian Cynosure during 
our absence on the Pacific Coast two 
years ago. undertook of his own accord 
i" gel Rev. Mr. Rader's testimony on 
secret societies but was unsuccessful. "I 
am opposed to amis. 1 preach the Gos 
pel." was Rev. Mr. Rader's reply to Rev. 
Mr. Leaman. We do not know why he 



L88 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



October, 1921. 



should have rebuffed the acting editor as 
he did. We do not believe him to have 
any sympathy with the secret societies of 
our day. and* so we leave it. 

Paul Rader is now president of the 
Christian Missionary Alliance, having 
succeeded the late Rev. A. B. Simpson, 
who had no affiliation with any lodge and 
cheerfully gave his written testimony 
when asked for it. We are still hopeful 
of yet being able to publish for the bene- 
fit of those inquiring and especially of 
young men a clear cut testimony by Paul 
Rader of the paganizing influence of the 
secret lodge system of our day. 



On Sunday morning, September 18th, 
Paul Rader preached his farewell sermon 
at the Moody Tabernacle. He will de- 
vote his time to the interest of the mis- 
sionary work of the Christian Missionary 
Alliance. 



EASTERN SECRETARY'S REPORT. 

BY REV. W. B. STODDARD. 

This fifteenth day of September finds 
me at work in Nebraska where I have 
come at the request of Secretary W. I. 
Phillips. My work is in the southeastern 
part of the state, especially in Richard- 
son County, for in this county lived our 
good friend Wm. C. Bissell who so kind- 
ly contributed in aid of our work. This 
is in many ways a wonderful country. 
Rich in agricultural opportunity. As our 
train came from St. Joseph, Missouri, 
along the Missouri river bottom lands I 
saw corn fields as far as the eye could 
reach. There were millions of bushels 
of the heavy ears of corn. Some are said 
to be out of work but it would seem 
none need go hungry in country like this. 
I have superintended the distribution of 
thousands of pages of tracts in and about 
the towns in Richardson County and 
cities adjacent. I cannot begin to write 
of my many new experiences but may 
mention a few. 

I began work in Rulo, Nebraska, and 
calling at a young doctor's office I offered 
him some tracts. He evidently knew of 
me and our work. Coming close he 
shook bis hand in my face and said he 
was Worshipful Master of the lodge and 
that I knew nothing about Masonry, lie 
then inquired what I did know about 
the lodge? Who paid me for this? 



Hissed and conducted himself generally 
as one who was angry. Had this been 
the first Worshipful Master I had ever 
met I might have wondered at his zvor- 
shipful spirit. 

Rulo has three churches — Catholic, 
Methodist and Holiness. A storekeeper 
who said he was a Mason said the 
churches were a failure because they 
"didn't do." I was told he had been a 
leader in one and ought to know. The 
holiness people were kind and gave me 
an opportunity to speak twice on Sab- 
bath, although they passed a resolution 
Saturday evening at their business meet- 
ing not to let a man preach more than 
once who did not preach right. There 
was to be a collection for our work at 
the evening service as announced at the 
morning meeting. A brother Spicer who 
had just returned from meetings in res- 
cue work very appropriately followed my 
anti-lodge address giving testimony and 
exhortation. A Yankee woman then an- 
nounced she would take the collection 
while the audience would sing. I do not 
know what was collected as both the col- 
lection and collector disappeared. 
Friends personally handed me partially 
enough to pay the hotel bill. This 
church is striving to shed some light in 
the darkness there found but does not 
seem to have much but needs. 

Falls City was my center of operation 
for some days. It is beautifully situated 
and gives evidence of wealth. Evangelist 
Henry W. Stough had secured the co- 
operation of most of the protestant 
churches and was trying to teach what 
it meant to be a Christian, I was told. I 
stopped at the European Hotel and 
noticed several lodge announcements over 
the clerk's desk. When I told him of my 
mission he replied that he belonged to 
several lodges. In one a man could not 
belong unless he was a good Christian. 
I asked which one. He replied "the 
Knights of Columbus." I said 4 T profess 
to be a Christian would they take me 
in." "Not unless you are a good Catho- 
lic," he answered. I said, I heard a 
young man swearing like a pirate ' and 
when I rebuked him and exhorted him 
to be a Christian he answered he "was a 
Christian, — a Catholic." St. Paul's 
Lutheran Church opened its doors to 
give me a hearing and at the conclusion 



October, L921. 



CHRIS! I W CYNOSURE 






of the lecture voted to invite me to de- 
liver a second lecture which I did. Sev- 
eral Cynosure subscriptions and an offer- 
ing of about twelve dollars was given. 
By the way, I gave my second lecture in 
St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Chicago, as 
I came through and am to speak in St. 
Paul's Lutheran Church in this city, 
Beatrice, Nebraska, tonight. Surely 
these churches have a good name. St. 
Paul told the Athenians about the "un- 
known God." 

Mr. John Llolman was my right hand 
man at Humboldt, Nebraska. He took 
me to an M. E. Church built on one 
corner of his farm in the country and I 
spoke to those who gathered. Rains had 
affected roads and prevented the attend- 
ance of some. There is great need of 
anti-lodge light in Humboldt. 

Continuing the report of last month's 
work in Ohio. I found I could not have 
a lecture on short notices as I had hoped 
in the Sonnenberg District and so con- 
tinued my journey to Holmes County. 
I fell in with good friends from Logan 
County who were enroute to a family 
gathering of the Gerber's and Trover's in 
the woods near Sugar Creek, Ohio. I 
found there possibly a thousand people 
gathered. After the eats the President, 
whom I found genial and willing to sub- 
scribe for the Cynosure, invited me to 
open the program by offering prayer. 
After an inspiring song by the quartette 
he announced that I would speak. I re- 
ferred in opening to some knowledge I 
had of Gerber's and Trover's ; compli- 
mented them on their appearance, and 
suggested that such good people should 
keep out of lodges. I then proceeded to 
show the chief reasons for so doing. The 
applause showed I had the sympathy of 
man}-. Some did not applaud. 

During the Sabbath spent in Holms 
County 1 spoke in Martins Creek and Ber- 
lin Churches. I came away with regret 
that T could not stay and accept other in- 
vitations to lecture. I found our former 
Pennsylvania State President. Enos 
Hess, of Messiah's Bible School, Grant- 
ham, Pennsylvania, at work in Ohio. We 
divided the time of address at the ''Para- 
disc Church of the Brethren" near 
Smithville. The audience was nol large 
but several ministers were there. 'I h< 
Bluffton Ohio College reported an in- 



crease both in students and teachers. 
Pledges were not all paid but there was 
a hopeful outlook. The} are with us on 
th< lodge question. 

At Huntsville, Ohio, our good friend, 
Mrs. Mary Templeton, was found inter- 
ested as always "in the good work." She 
is now in her 87th year and s! ill active in 
church work. 

1 was especially glad at West Liberty 
to meet again our old friend, C. K. 
I [artzler. He. has for years been greatly 
afflicted with a nervous trouble. I scat 
ly thought we should meet again when 
I saw him last two years ago. He and 
his family bear their trials with unusual 
Christian fortitude. My meetings near 
West Liberty were in the Oak and Wal- 
nut Grove Mennonite Churches, als 
country Baptist Church. The Grove 
Churches were well filled with fine con- 
gregations as usual. While speaking in 
the Baptist church there were more 
than twenty times as many people at a 
baseball game nearby. The lodge and the 
ball games have a great hold on the sin- 
ners of that section. I was told a man 
calling himself "a saint" was trying to' 
sell cantaloupes and watermelons to the 
sinners passing to this ball game on the 
Sabbath. The auto surely helps when 
headed toward the church but what are its 
possibilities when headed toward the 
lodge in the woods? My Cynosure space is 
taken. I may not even mention all the 
(owns and cities visited and the sinners 
with whom I have talked. God help us 
all, and make us "pure in heart" for only 
such shall see God ! 



SOUTHERN AGENT'S REPORT. 
BY REV. F. J. DAVIDSON. 

1 promised in the August issue to 

speak of my St. Patrick trip. I was 
cordially received and entertained by 
Rev. J. E. Ellis and his t^ood people who 
made, arrangements for me to preach to 
his congregation. Tin's young giant in 
the pulpit is past,)]- of the oldest and 
largest Negro church in this section of 
the slate. It was founded- in 1850. Pew 
king was ordained by a council of white 
Baptisl ministers at St. Mary's, Georgia, 
in [846. I le was a fterwards sold to a 
Louisiana sugar planter and broughl Id 
Si. Patrick where the entire population 
was Roman Catholic Creoles. The ma-- 



190 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



October, 1921. 



ters did not allow their slaves to own 
any other profession than what they pro- 
fessed, but God gave him favor with his 
master, and after some futile efforts to 
proselyte him into Catholicism he gave it 
up and permitted him to hold services in 
the quarters. King was a powerful man 
and a valuable servant. He succeeded in 
gathering a few faithful disciples in 1850 
and organized the First Baptist Church. 
His Georgia owners, against southern 
custom had taught Daniel to read and 
write, and shortly after the Civil war he 
at once sprang into prominence and be- 
came a leader and power in Republican 
politics in 1872 under the Warmoth ad- 
ministration. He was elected to the State 
Legislature, but in 1876 he gave up poli- 
tics and devoted his time and talent to 
the Gospel ministry. He was one of the 
early Louisiana subscribers to the Cyno- 
sure and was a staunch antisecretist all 
of his days. He purchased a plot of 
land one acre in width and 40 acres in 
length for his church and built up a 
strong congregation and set them the 
example of thrift, honesty and getting 
homes. It would thrill you to hear him 
speak of his experience and that of his 
members in their efforts to hold church 
services between 1850 and 1863, often 
times being chased, maltreated and beaten 
by the patrollers and their services brok- 
en up. He died in 1897, being 100 years 
of age, having served God 80 years, of 
which 70 were given to the Gospel min- 
istry. He was as active, prior to his 
death, as a man of sixty years. 

Rev. J. E. Ellis was ordained to suc- 
ceed father King as pastor. They im- 
mediately sent him to Leland University 
where he prepared himself to lead his 
people. He was deceived and led into 
the Knights of Pythias and Tabernacle 
lodges, but he has become convinced of 
its folly and is inactive. 

I crossed the great Mississippi .River 
in a skiff and went to Paulina, Louisiana. 
Here Rev. John Lewis had arranged for 
me to preach at Antioch Baptist Church. 
He and his family were very kind and 
attentive to me. I found Rev. Lewis was 
a member of Knights of Pythias and the 
Tabernacles but he like many others has 
seen their folly. 

I next visited Lutcher and Kenner, 
thence to New Orleans where I spent 



three days with dear ones, served the 
Lord's Supper to Central Baptist Church 
and thence off to Pass Christian, Missis- 
sippi, where I witnessed the christening 
of a new home by Pastor L. Johnson for 
Mrs. Julia Brown, where a large number 
of friends were gathered. Dr. Johnson 
gave me an opportunity to speak to those 
assembled. This beautiful home was 
donated to Sister Brown in her old age 
by her daughter, Mrs. Carrie R. Nelson, 
and her husband. I was royally enter- 
tained by Mr. and Mrs. Nelson. I found 
work scarce and wages small in Pass 
Christian, but the lodges are thriving and 
multiplying. I was privileged to preach 
at Goodwill Baptist Church (Rev. L. 
Johnson pastor) and St. Paul M. E. 
Church (Rev. Morgan, pastor). I then 
went to Gretna, Louisiana, where I had 
received a letter to preach but the young 
secret lodge preacher, a Mr. Stewart, 
treated me very uncourteously. He lifted 
a small collection in the name of giving 
it to me, but when church services closed 
he did not give me a cent. I went to 
Jeanerette, Louisiana, where I conducted 
a Ministers Institute at Rev. H. W. 
Coleman's church but rain every day 
greatly hindered the meeting. I went 
next to Berwick, Louisiana, where I con- 
ducted an eight days' revival at Little 
Zion Baptist Church under the leader- 
ship of Deacon Paul Saunders. I met 
a very cordial reception at Little Zion and 
received a handsome offering. At Mor- 
gan City, Revs. Hans and Hays cordially 
received me. I preached at their churches 
and received offerings. I was royally en- 
tertained by Deacon Williams and his 
family. At Morgan City there was a 
perfect outrage. Seven Negroes, on a 
pleasure trip by auto from Houston, 
Texas, to New Orleans, were arrested 
on Sunday and placed in jail until Mon- 
day evening, on suspicion of having stol- 
en the car and no colored person was per- 
mitted to see them until the sheriff at 
Franklin was telephoned. The leading 
men telephoned the Chief of Police of 
Houston and received answer that the 
Negroes were law abiding citizens but 
the Morgan city police refused to re- 
lease them notwithstanding they had 
every necessary paper showing them- 
selves to be good citizens and tax payers 
of Houston. 



October, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE v 



101 



I was cordially received by Rev. H. B. 
Banks at Lafourche, Louisiana, where he 
arranged for an appointment at St. Paul 
Baptist Church. Threatening storm pre- 
vented a larger gathering, but those pres- 
ent received the truth enthusiastically. 
The pastor urged my early return. I 
was very royally entertained by Mrs. 
Martha R. Parker, a widow, and her two 
sons, one of whom, George J. Johnson, is 
seventeen years old and a preacher of 
remarkable ability for a student of his 
age. 

I am here again in New Orleans in 
preparation for the National Baptist 
Convention which meets here in the 
Baptist auditorium, September 7th to 12. 



LETTERS FROM OUR FRIENDS. 

Rev. Wm. Harder of Johnson, Ne- 
braska, writes : "I read the Cynosure 
with pleasure and benefit and wish that 
every minister in our synod would read 
it. One of the greatest evils and enemies 
of our church and Saviour is the lodge. 
May God open the eyes of many and 
save them." 



Mr. O. V. Stanton of Barnerville, 
New York, wrote recently : "I love the 
Christian Cynosure and cannot afford to 
lose a copy. May the Lord bless all the 
workers in this great cause is my prayer." 



Our friend, Rev. Moses H. Clemens 
of Ontario, Canada, writes : "I see your 
announcement of the National Conven- 
tion to be held in Grand Rapids, Michi- 
gan, and wish I could attend it. I hope 
the National Christian Association will 
continue in operation, for the works of 
the Devil must be smashed and truth is 
the sledge hammer and battering ram 
that will do the work. There are many 
Masons in Canada. My friend, the gov- 
ernor of our county jail, told me that he 
had taken his demit from the Masonic 
lodge because he saw things that did not 
suit him. It is to be hoped that many 
members of Masonic lodges will open 
their eyes and see the iniquities of 
Masonry. We might encourage our Ma- 
sonic friends to abolish capital punish- 
ment for good reasons. First, Free- 
masonry has no authority to inflict the 
death penalty for any offense whatever 



and this penalty should not be imposed 
for the trifling offense of revealing a 
Masonic secret. Secondly, when a Free- 
mason deserves capital punishment, the 
State will attend to the case and all 
Masons should assist the State to enforce 
the law. 

"Let us pray that the whole secret em- 
pire may be shaken to pieces by the 
spiritual earthquake which is coming. 
The spiritual awakening is coming sure- 
ly, in answer to prayer and corresponding 
action of Christians." 



From a friend in Minnesota, a Metho- 
dist minister, comes the following inter- 
esting item : "On Sunday morning, July 
31st, I nailed my renunciations to the 
church door of the Methodist Episcopal 
church. So far as I can find out they 
were confiscated by some Odd-Fellow be- 
fore they came to the attention of the 
public. I am awaiting the outcome but 
thus far everything is quiet." 



Our readers will be interested in a let- 
ter from a Christian worker in central 
Illinois, who writes : 

"I wish to thank you for the little 
booklets which you sent me. I have 
given them out to friends who need such 
help after reading each booklet and send- 
ing it out with a prayer. They were dis- 
tributed just in time for after reading the 
booklets the parties who contemplated 
joining the lodge said they will have 
nothing to do with the lodge now that 
they see the truth. I wish you would 
send me more literature for I need it. 
Our pastor has even been asked to join 
the Masonic lodge." 



Our good friend J. T. Cullor of Mis- 
souri has just paid his subscription to 
the Christian Cynosure for ten years 
to December, 1931. Thanks! 



Oh, the moments of life ! Yes, they 
make up the years ; and they also make 
the memories ! And while we may re- 
deem some of the time, much of it, in 
fact, if we are swift and thoroughgoing, 
there are memories which never will be 
effaced. Then why do we disregard the 
little acts which print a character on 
the fleeting moments? 






MODERN PROPHETS of BAAL 

OR 

WATCHMEN on ZION'S WALLS 

By President C. A. Blanchard. 

This is a tract especially intended for ministers. The terra Baalism in referring to 
Masonry is used figuratively. "If we say Lord to any one who is not God, then we 
are worshipers of Baal and if we, who are religious teachers, call any one Lord 
except the true God, then we are prophets of Baal." This tract, in addition to setting 
forth the real relation of Masonic ministers to a heathen system, also gives the reasons 
why Christian preachers become prophets of Baal. 

In the appendix there is a chapter on Masonic Theology, taken from Mackey's "Masonic 
Ritualist", the author being the well known Past General Grand High Priest of the General 
Grand Chapter of the United States. There is also A Word to Bible Students, by Dean 
J. M. Gray, D. D., of the Moody Bible Institute, and there is a page of Bible quotations 
which are important in this connection. 

Thirty-two pages; Single copies three cents, per hundred, $2.00 postpaid. 



Address 



NATIONAL CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION, 

850 West Madison Street, Chicago 111: 



WOODMEN OF THE WORLD 

By BENJAMIN M. HOLT 

The author, Mr. B. M. Holt, was for many years a lodge member. He resigned his lodge- 
connection in all due form on account of scruples of conscience; he was not dropped on account 
of delinquency, but voluntarily resigned and received his regular "letter of dimission." 

The present treatise, which concerns itself with the Woodmen of the World in particular, 
chows almost exclusively from quotations of prominent Woodmen, official publications, supply 
houses, and others, what the Woodmen teach and do, and points out wherein their teachings and 
practises disagree with Christian principles. The little booklet is sure to be of inestimable value 
in the hands of pastors and others that have occasion to warn a Christian brother against 
Joining a lodge, and should be available also in persuading those who have already taken thi* 
step, to leave the lodge. 

The little paper-covered book comprises 72 pages, size 5x7%. It contains four illustrations of 
secret society paraphernalia. The list price is 35 cents, postpaid. 

Address NATIONAL CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION, 850 W. Madison St., Chicago 



Was Washington 
a Mason? 

By PRES. CHARLES A. BLANCHARD 

10c per copy, postpaid 



This is the best, as well as the most interesting - , contribution yet 
written on the question of Washing-ton's relation to Freemasonry. 

ADDRESS 

NATIONAL CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION 



850 W. MADISON ST. 



CHICAGO, iLL. 



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VOL. LIV. No. 8. 



CHICAGO. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 

Punished Monthly by the National Christian 
Association. 



WM. I. PHILLIPS 

850 West Madison Street, Chicago. 

Managing Editor. 



TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION 
PRICE — Per year, in advance, $1.50; three 
months, on trial, thirty-five cents; single 
copies, fifteen cents. 

PRESENTATION COPIES— Many persons sub- 
scribe for the Christian Cynosure to be sent 
to FRIENDS. In such cases, if we are advised 
that a subscription is a present and not reg^i* 
larly authorized by the recipient, we wl 
make a memorandum to discontinue at ex- 
piration, and to send no bill for the ensuing 
year. 

BUSINESS LETTERS should be addressed to 
Wm. I. Phillips, Gen. Secy., at the above ad- 
dress. 

Entered as Second-class matter May 19. 1897, 
lit the Post Office at Chicago, 111., under Act of 
fcarca 3, 1879. 

fc- = : ■ ■ as ' 

CONTENTS 

Page 
What Is the Remedy ?. Cover 

Lodge Salvation, by Rev. J. F. Heemstra. . 227 

Report of Moody Bible Institute 233 

My Hiding Place, poem by Major Andre. . 233 

My Neighbor, illustration and poem 234 

The Many Antichrists, by Pres. C. A. 
Blanchard 235 

The Question of the Hour, by E. E. Flagg 242 

Royal League, Knights of Liberty, Red 
Men and Masonic Order, by Wm. J. 
Nydam 249 

"Lizzie Woods' Letter," by Mrs. L. W. 
Roberson 250 



Eastern Secretary's Report, by Rev. W. 
B. Stoddard 253 

Order of Humility and Perfection — The 
Odd-Fellow's "Shrine" 253 

Our View of the Lodge — United 
Brethren Church (Old Constitution) '253 

Salvation Army Strong for Elks 254 

Experiences With the Masons, by J. T. 
Cullor 254 

Southern Agent's Report, Rev. F. J. 
Davidson 255 



NATIONAL CHRISTIAN ASSOCIA- 
TION. 



President, Rev. John F. Heemstra; 
Vice-President, Rev. Wm. B. Rose, 

Recording Secretary, Mrs. N. E. Kel- 
logg; Secretary-Treasurer, Wm. I. 
Phillips. 



BOARD OF DIRECTORS. 

Walter Wietzke, A. W. Safford, G. W. 
Hylkema, Wm. P. Ferries, J. R. Shaf- 
fer, G. W. Bond, M. P. F. Doermann, 
A. H. Leaman, C. A. Blanchard, George 
Slagei- and Thos. C. McKnight. 



LECTURERS. 

Those desiring lectures or addresses 

may write to any of the speakers named 

below : 

Rev. W. B. Stoddard, Box 94, East 

Falls Church, Virginia 
Rev. Adam Murrman, Arena, Wis. 
Rev. F. J. Davidson, 927 St. Maurice 

Ave., New Orleans, La- 
Mrs. Lizzie W. Roberson, 2864 Corby 

St., Omaha, Neb. 

Pres. C. A. Blanchard, Wheaton, 111 



There is none 
other Name 
under heaven, 
given among 
men, whereby 
we must be 
aaved. 

— Acts 4:12 



CHRISTIAN 

CYNOSURE 



Jesua answerea 
him: I spake 
openly to the 
world, and in 
secret have I 
said nothing. 
—John 18:20 



LODGE SALVATION. 

Rev. John F. Heemstra. 

Address delivered at the National Conven- 
tion of the National Christian Association, Sep- 
tember 29, 1921, at Grand Rapids, Mich., in the 
Sherman Street Christian Reformed Church. 

Mr. Chairmen and Friends : 

I feel that I ought to speak very briefly 
tonight and allow all the time that can 
possibly be given to Dr. Blanchard, who 
is to follow me. He has a very large sub- 
ject and he is abundantly able to handle 
it. I am thoroughly in sympathy with 
this movement — and pride myself that 
my sympathy is no less than that of Dr. 
Blanchard, but he is so very much better 
posted than I am that I feel reluctant to 
appear on this platform and consume 
your time. 

I suppose that you all sufficiently un- 
derstand that I am to speak tonight on 
the kind of salvation that the lodge 
teaches, — the kind of salvation that the 
lodge would have people believe in and 
live by and die with. 

May I say that I am not to speak on 
the salvation of the lodge, but on lodge 
salvation. I mean that there is no sal- 
vation for the lodge as a lodge. I cer- 
tainly wish all the people in the lodge 
salvation, but for the lodge there is no 
salvation. The lodge is bound to go. It 
will come to an end. It has no future, 
no distant, permanent, ultimate future. 
At present it flourishes and we deplore 
that the times are favorable for its flour- 
ishing, but it will come to an end. I 
think we may apply the judgment of 
Gamaliel of old, who said, "This work, 
if it be of men, will come to naught." I 
would say in this connection that there is 



no "if" about it; the work of the lodge is 
positively not of God, but is of men and 
the Devil, who uses men and inspires 
them and directs their machinations 
against the counsel and the truth of God. 
So we are not at all pessimistic but are 
very optimistic as to how this thing will 
ultimately turn out. But at the same 
time we feel considerably despondent 
about the condition of individuals who 
have allowed themselves to fall into the 
clutches of these soul-destroying institu- 
tions, and who will be destroyed but for 
the almighty grace of God, who is able 
to snatch them out as brands from the 
burning. But the lodge is bound to go. 
and the sooner it goes the better. But if 
not soon then it will go when all things 
that may be shaken will go to make 
room for God's Kingdom that will re- 
main. All works of the Devil will be 
destroyed, and I think among these 
works of Satan there may be considered 
very distinctly the work of the lodge. Ii 
is bound to go. 

A Religious System Is Inherent in All 
Lodges. 
I am to speak to you tonight about 
Lodge Salvation — the particular kind of 
salvation that the lodge teaches. The 
lodge does have a scheme of salvation to 
offer — all of them have more or less, bin 
Masonry leads in this respect because it 
is the mother and the pattern for all the 
rest. It does not surprise us my friends 
that the lodge has a scheme of salvation 
to offer, because the lodge is a religi 
institution. I know it has already been 
said that the religion of <ome of the 
minor lodges is considerably abbreviated. 



228 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



December, 1921. 



It is by no means totally lacking in any, 
but it comes in a very abbreviated form 
it is true, in some. But it is a significant 
fact that this character of religion is 
lacking in none of them. It is found in 
every one of them more or less, and the 
major lodges do not at all make any at- 
tempt to deny their religious character. 
Masonry asserts frequently and repeated- 
ly that it is to be considered as a re- 
ligious institution. The writings of Ma- 
sons are replete with utterances to that 
effect. We are not in our testimony 
against the lodge simply making assump- 
tions and inferences, as has sometimes 
been thought ; we are not simply basing 
our assertions on the testimony of seced- 
ers, which testimony the lodge decries as 
being so very untrustworthy. These se- 
ceders had been beguiled, in some way 
or other, to enter the lodge and to assume 
horrible oaths of secrecy. Afterwards 
they are described as liars and falsifiers 
when having repented of the error of 
their ways and having come out, they 
feel in duty bound to testify and warn 
others against the works of darkness. 

But let us understand we are not bas- 
ing our arguments on any seceders tes- 
timonies but simply on the publications of 
the lodge itself ; on the utterances of 
leading lodge writers. There was a time 
formerly when it was thought that the 
secrets of the lodge could not be known 
except to those who were within ; and 
they were all solemnly bound to ever 
conceal and never reveal the secrets that 
they knew, but that time is past. Thanks 
to the labors of the reform movement, in 
the interest of which we are gathered 
here tonight, there are no more secrets 
in the sense that these things may not be 
known to the public and this is particular- 
ly true of the teachings of the lodge re- 
garding salvation. Get the literature of 
the lodge for yourself and read it. Get 
the literature of almost any lodge that 



you may wish to investigate; and I am 
sure the National Christian Association 
in the person of Secretary Phillips will be 
glad to help you. And in turn the Na- 
tional Christian Association needs your 
help in order that it may help you and 
others more successfully in the future 
than it has in the past. Read such books 
as "Mackey's Masonic Ritualist" and 
Sickels' "Masonic Monitor" and Chase's 
"Digest of Masonic Law", and other 
lodge publications published by the 
lodges themselves. The time has come 
when lodge secrets are no more secret. 
Where they formerly depended on grips 
and signs whereby they made themselves 
known to one another, you will find them 
now wearing their buttons on their coats, 
and wearing charms and rings and parad- 
ing the streets in their regalia. 

I am told the lodge itself is resorting to 
the National Christian Association for 
literature. I was rather surprised to 
have Brother Phillips tell me that lodge 
men come in and buy their literature of 
the National Christian Association. 
There are no more secrets with respect 
to their teachings and the principles for 
which they stand. 

Lodge Religion a Crude Mixture. 

So, with regard to salvation, let us 
not be surprised at the fact that the lodge 
has a scheme of salvation to offer. It is 
bound to offer a scheme of salvation be- 
cause it "is a religious institution" and it 
stands as such. Masonry asserts it is a 
religious institution* and wishes to be re- 
garded as such, and the rituals they pos- 
sess furnish abundant evidence that this 
is true; and the rites and symbols they 
employ corroborate it. And as a religi- 
ous organization the matter of the life 
beyond will come up, for they realize 
that it is not all of life to live, nor all 
of death to die. The Modern Woodmen 

*Mackey's Masonic Ritualist, page 56, "The 
Universal Religion of Masonry." 



December, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



229 



of America wished to remain silent with 
respect to religion but they found that 
when they had to bun- their dead they 
had to assume some sort of position on 
religion and that is the situation of the 
lodge. This scheme of salvation which 
the lodge has is by no means that which 
the Bible teaches. The religion of the 
lodge is not Christianity ; it is rather a 
conglomeration of systems that are put 
together in a very commanding and 
sometimes in a very crude way, and in 
which there are passages of Scripture 
used, frequently garbled woefully and 
sacrilegiously emasculated, especially by 
removing all reference to Jesus Christ 
from the passages of Scripture that they 
wish to employ. The religion of the 
lodge is rather idolatry. 

In an editorial in The Kablegram the 
Editor furnished us evidence that the re- 
ligion of the lodge is idolatry and that 
Satan is indeed the rigger up of lodge 
rituals and has indeed inspired them. 
That editorial went on to say that those 
people are to be commended, who believe 
that any old kind of a god is better than 
none at all, it commends the good sense 
of those people who exercise tolerance 
towards all religions, as that would re- 
sult in boosting for all the gods. And 
that is exactly the position of the lodge 
on religion. It wants to be left alone 
with its idolatry in order that it and all 
other kinds of idolatry may be boosted. 
The position of the lodge always is, you 
know, that they want to be left alone; 
they don't want any testimony against 
them; they don't particularly hanker af- 
ter the advertising they get from our side 
because they can do that themselves. 
They are inveterate boasters and they 
particularly like going around and blow- 
ing their horns and parading the streets. 
I don't see how any open minded person, 
with any conception of Christian truth 
can regard them as anything but idola- 
trous and of the theistic brand. 



Lodge Religion Is Self-Salvation. 
Now that being the case, that the 
lodges' religion is idolatry, it must not 
surprise us that the scheme of salvation 
that it offers us should be in harmony 
with its principles and the position that 
it takes on religion. It has been assert- 
ed here before, but let me say it now be- 
cause it is in line with my subject — that 
the salvation of the lodge is self-salva- 
tion. They know nothing of the sinner „ 
that is lost in his sins and needs to be 
saved. To them sin is nothing more at 
the worst than inevitable human imper- 
fection that cleaves unto all men ; and 
they write the misdeeds of the brother 
in the sand and his good deeds they 
carve on stone. They have not felt the 
need of an atonement ; they have no use 
for a Savior ; they consistently ignore all 
reference to the person of Jesus Christ, 
and the Holy Spirit. It is a self-right- 
eous method of salvation, accomplished 
by self and accomplished by the good 
works that they do. And let us under- 
stand that these good works of which 
they speak are not the good works that 
are approved of God because they arise 
from faith and are done according to the 
law of God and done for his glory, but 
they are the good works which are 
standardized by the lodge itself. These 
are composed of recognition of fraternal- 
ism among the oath-bound brethren ; 
fidelity to the obligations that they have 
assumed; obedience to the despotic dic- 
tates of the lodge and of the Grand 
Lodge above them; it is faithfulness all 
along the line ; and especially so in mat- 
ters of finance. — in keeping up their 
membership dues — all these things con- 
stitute the good works of the lodge and 
on this they hope for salvation, and this 
is the salvation that they teach. Some- 
times the lodge expresses this in a way 
that is altogether in line with the buffoon- 
ery that they practice. It is particularly 
true of the Elks. I have a couple of ref- 



230 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



December, 1921. 



erences that appeared in their own pub- 
lications which illustrate this. One of 
them from Two Sixty Chaff, appeared in 
January* of this year : 

'The}- are called the B. P. O. E.'s, an American 

institution, 
That loves its country's honor, flag and her 

Yankee Constitution. 
They worship God as others do; they pray 

with fervent will, 
So when they reach the Golden Gate, Peter 

will say, 'Hello Bill !' " 

And another' appearing in a paper pub- 
lished in the northern peninsula of this 
state : 

"When he dies and goes above, Brother Elk, 
To the Golden Gate of Love, Brother Elk, 
Does St. Peter hesitate? No, he swings wide 

the pearly gate, 
Come in, you don't have to wait, Brother Elk." 

Lodge Religion Horribly Sacrilegious. 
Masonry treats the matter, of course, 
in a more serious vein. The Elks are 
given to making fun of everything and 
their religion is made a matter of fun. 
But the Masons treat this in a more seri- 
ous vein and more extensively. But at 
the same time they reveal all the more 
strongly the hidden, subtle and positive 
antagonism to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 
They use terms of Scripture, but al- 
ways applied and interpreted Masonical- 
ly. They use Christian phraseology, but 
transposed into terms of Masonry. For 
instance, he that is without the lodge is 
said to be in "darkness" and in order to 
come to the "light" he must enter into 
Masonry. When a man is initiated it is 
said to be his "regeneration." After tak- 
ing his first obligation and the hoodwink 
is removed, he is then pointed to the 
Bible lying on the altar, under the square 
and compass and surrounded with a few 
burning tapers, and as his attention is 
called to it, it is supposed to be a great 
revelation unto him, and a fulfillment of 
the Divine fiat, "Let there be light." 
These things are horribly sacrilegious, 



but they constitute the lodges' way of sal- 
vation. 

The matter of fact is that the lodge 
ultimately stands for a universal salva- 
tion within lodge limits. It is a well- 
known fact that there is no man, pro- 
vided he be a good lodge member, who 
has paid his membership dues and kept 
them up faithfully, and has been faith- 
ful to his obligations and oaths — if he 
has done that he can never be so vile 
and so immoral a man but that the lodge 
ritual used (and which they do not hesi- 
tate to use for all) pronounces him 
saved. He has gone to the Grand Lodge 
above, or whatever term they may use 
in the different lodges for the designation 
of heaven and the place of bliss beyond. 
They are all saved, every one, according 
to the standards of the lodge. That is a 
very serious matter. I believe this is the 
most serious phase of the whole thing. 
I know that it is monstrous iniquity for 
the lodge to degrade God and to use the 
terms whereby they express Him and 
in which they insinuate that He ap- 
proves of their teachings and practices. 
I say that is horrible iniquity for them 
to do that. 

It is horribly sacrilegious for the lodge 
to use the Bible the way it does ; to make 
of it simply a piece of furniture, assert- 
ing also as they do that it is nothing else, 
and that any other book which may be 
considered a sacred book may be used 
just as well as the Bible. The Masons 
mutilate the Bible, especially in the mat- 
ter which is the very heart of the whole 
revelation of God, the revelation of his 
Grace in Jesus Christ as Savior, in ex- 
punging the name of Jesus Christ and all 
reference to Him in the passages that 
they wish to use. 1 say that is horribly 
sacrilegious. I say it is rank hypocrisy 
for the lodge to be reading their Chris- 
less prayers in which there is no expres- 
sion at all of contrition, or the aspira- 
tion of a sinful soul for communion with 



December, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



231 



the merciful God and the desire to serve 
Him in newness of life and by the power 
of His Holy Spirit. 

It is awful hypocrisy for the lodge to 
be parading before God their pharisaical 
good works with which their prayers are 
rilled from start to finish. It is because 
the lodge stands for those things that 
their scheme of salvation is as it is, but I 
judge that the most serious thing of all 
is the fact that they offer this Christless 
scheme of salvation, that is utterly des- 
titute of that attitude to God which we 
should hold, of Christian reverence, of 
Christian faith and the desire to be rid 
of sin, and to serve God. Theirs is a 
scheme of salvation that is utterly desti- 
tute and void of any reference to the 
grace of God in Jesus Christ ; to offer 
such a scheme of salvation is the most 
serious thing of all. It is that thing my 
friends that is leading men on in a false 
security and in a false hope; it is that 
thing that is searing their consciences ; 
that is making them insensible to the 
truths of the Gospel ; that is making 
them indifferent and careless to vital, 
evangelical Christian faith. I do not 
hesitate to assert that spiritual death is 
going to be the result, and instances have 
been found in abundance to substantiate 
this. 

You Cannot Serve Two Masters. 

It may be said, a person may be a 
lodge man and yet not believe in that 
method of salvation. I think I heard 
someone say, to-day, that he had met one 
who said he absolutely did not believe at 
all in that method of salvation that the 
lodge proposes ; he realized that the . 
teaching of the lodge was salvation bv 
good works — and of the lodge type and 
standard of good works — but he believed 
in the atonement of Jesus Christ and he 
said the lodge did not at all disturb him 
in that faith. It may be true that the 
lodge does not do this in the sense that it 
calls upon him openly to revoke his faith 



in the Son of God and the Savior of the 
world, but the facts in the case are that 
the lodge influence exerted by the lodge 
is of such a nature that he cannot con- 
tinue in his Christian faith, if he con- 
tinues in the lodge. Will somebody 
please show us how a Christian can pos- 
sibly live under the practice of a Christ- 
less religion, under the teaching of a 
scheme of salvation where Christ is not 
needed, nor wanted and in which it is 
asserted that there is a possibility of sal- 
vation abundant for everyone without 
Jesus Christ as a Savior; how is it pos- 
sible for him to live under the constant 
reiteration of a religion that is Devil in- 
spired and that is antagonistic to the 
Word of God, and also continue in his 
Christian faith and hope. I verily believe 
that this is an impossibility according to 
the Word of God, which says, "Be not 
unequally yoked together with unbeliev- 
ers : for what fellowship hath righteous- 
ness with unrighteousness, and what com- 
munion hath light with darkness? And' 
what concord hath Christ with Belial, or 
what part hath he that believeth with an 
infidel ?" And you know the other con- 
trasts which are made in that passage of 
Scripture. Jesus asserts, "Ye cannot 
serve God and mammon." "No man can 
serve two masters." And the Apostle 
Paul so strongly expresses it — "Ye can- 
not drink the cup of the Lord and the 
cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of 
the Lord's table and of the table of dev- 
ils." And remember when the Apostle 
Paul was making those assertions he was 
referring to just those ancient mysteries 
that the lodge of to-day claims to be per- 
petuating. Mackey, a high Masonic au- 
thority, loves to trace the connection that 
the symbolism of the lodge has with an- 
cient mysteries, and these are the old 
pagan systems of idolatry that remain in 
part unto the present day ; and the lodge 
claims to be perpetuating these things 
and to have put them in a present day 



232 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



December, 1921, 



form, which may be seen in their lodge 
symbolism. 

I would suggest to you that when Paul 
said, "Ye cannot be partakers of the 
Lord's table and of the table of devils," 
he was referring just exactly to the very 
things that the lodge itself again and 
again claims to have perpetuated. Yes, 
let the question be asked — God Himself 
asks the question: "Can two walk to- 
gether except they be agreed?" and the 
answer must be, No. If they do not 
agree from the start they shall have to 
come to some agreement in the course of 
their walk, and the agreement that the 
Christian, who continues to be a lodge 
man is bound to come to, is an agree- 
ment whereby his Christian faith goes 
by the board. 

But some one will say, well that would 
be true, if your Christian lodge-man was 
very diligent in attendance upon lodge 
meetings, if he were very active in the 
"work" of the lodge — their work, their 
teachings and practices that are conduct- 
ed behind guarded doors. 

But now suppose that your Christian 
lodge man is not in line ; that he is not 
active and diligent in the nonsense of the 
lodge, that he very seldom, in fact, prac- 
tically never attends a lodge meeting ; he 
simply pays his dues and he does this for 
the purpose of securing those material 
advantages that he gets in this way ; then 
you say there would not be this baneful 
influence over him as a lodge member 
and it might be very possible for him to 
be a good true Christian and continue in 
his faith and spirituality and also be a 
good lodge man. 

No, that cannot be true. You know a 
person who does that way is not a good 
lodge man, he is simply a nominal lodge 
man, and there is a great difference be- 
tween being merely a nominal lodge man 
and being a good lodge man, such as 
every one of them is expected to be and 
is sworn to be. But even then I would 



say that that baneful influence would not 
be lacking. 

I fear that there are those, that will find 
it out perhaps when it is too late. Per- 
haps they will find it out when they 
are on their dying bed, that they have 
been grieving the Holy Spirit by a mem- 
bership in an institution that is positively 
antagonistic to the Christian faith and 
that seeks to maintain its antagonism in 
such a subtle way by make-believe re- 
ligion and false morality. I say, false 
morality for let it be understood that 
the moral law that the lodge teaches and 
particularly the Masonic lodge, is not the 
Ten Commandments but the natural law 
described by Albert G. Mackey, Past 
General Grand High Priest, of the Gen- 
eral Grand Chapter of the United States, 
author, etc., who says in His "Encyclope- 
dia of Free-Masonry" under Moral Law: 
" 'A Mason,' says the old charges of 
1722, 'is obliged by his tenure to obey the 
moral law.' Now this Moral Law is not 
to be considered as confined to the deca- 
logue of Moses, within which narrow 
limits the ecclesiastical writers technical- 
ly restrain it, but rather as aljuding to 
what is called the lex naturae, or the law 
of nature. This is the Moral Law to 
which the old Charge already cited re- 
fers and which is declared to be rhe law 
of Masonry.' ' : Mackey says that this 
is a very wise interpretation of the phrase 
Moral Law because Masonry includes 
men of all religions, among them are 
those who reject the principles and pre- 
cepts of Jesus and the Law of Moses 
and prefer, for example, as the followers 
of Zoroaster the teachings of the Zend- 
Avesta, or the teachings of the Koran, 
as the Mohammedans do. 

Let There Be Light. 

Oh, let there be light. Not the light 
that the lodge contends for and which 
brings people into greater darkness, but 
the light that comes from the opening of 
God's Word and that is shed on the se- 



December, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



233 



cret works of darkness and of Satan. 
"Let there be light" the lodge says — Ma- 
sonry says it when it removes the hood- 
wink from the eyes of the man that 
kneels there having taken his solemn ob- 
ligation, with one hand under, the other 
resting on the square and compass that 
is placed on the Bible. They say, let 
there be light and they remove the hood- 
wink. I say, let there be light and open 
your Bibles — let there be light— not the 
light of the lodge but light on the lodge. 
And I would say that having learned and 
recognized what the lodge stands for — 
if a person then wishes to continue and 
live with it, let him cease declaring his 
adherence to Christianity and the Chris- 
tian faith and Christian life, for what 
concord hath Christ with Belial? 

On the other hand, if one would stand 
by Christianity and love the truth of 
God's Word, live up to it and die with it. 
if he has any connection with the lodge 
let him get out, for it is no place for him 
to be. Let him stay out if he has not 
come in, for it is no place for him to go. 
Let him do what God tells us to do, 
"Come out from among them, and be ye 
separate, saith the Lord, and touch "not 
the unclean thing, and I will be a Father 
unto you and you shall be my sons and 
daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." 



Mr. Henry P. Crowell, president of 
the Quaker Oats Company, was re-elect- 
ed president of the Moody Bible Insti- 
tute of Chicago at the annual meeting of 
the board of trustees October 19. For- 
mer Judge McKenzie Cleland was re- 
elected vice-president, and Mr. Bryan Y. 
Craig, attorney-at-law, secretary. 

The report by Dean James M. Gray on 
the Institute's school year ending August 
31 showed a total enrolment for the year 
in the day and evening classes of 2,495 
students, representing forty-four states 
twenty-five foreign countries and twen- 
ty-two different religions denominations. 
Forty-three students sailed for foreign 
fields during the year under the various 



denominational and independent board-. 
It is announced that the Institute's Cur- 
riculum Committee is now working on 
advanced courses for those looking 
toward the pastorate and religious edu- 
cation leadership. 

The year's work by the students in the 
Practical Work Course included about 
three-quarters of a million tracts and 
Gospels distributed ; 46,675 visits to hos- 
pitals, jails, etc. ; Sunday school classes 
taught, 26,542 ; religious meetings con- 
ducted, 61,066, and 8,273 professed con- 
versions. 



MY HIDING PLACE. 

The following poem was written by Major 
A-ndre, a few days before his execution by order 
of Gen. Washington, at Tappan, New York, Oc- 
tober 2, 1780. 

Hail, sovereign love, which first began 
The scheme to rescue fallen man ! 
Hail, matchless, free, eternal grace, 
. Which gave my soul a Hiding Place. 

Against the God who built the sky, 
I fought with hands uplifted high. 
Despised the mention of His grace, 
Too proud to seek a Hiding Place. 

Enwrapt in thick Egyptian night. 

And fond of darkness more than light. 

Madly I ran the sinful race, 

Secure, without a Hiding Place. 



And thus the eternal counsel ran, 
Almighty love, arrest that man ! 
I felt the arrows of distress, 
And found I had no Hiding Place. 

Indignant justice stood in view ; 
To Sinai's fiery mount I flew ; 
But justice cried, with frowning face. 
"This mountain is no Hiding Place!" 

Ere long a heavenly voice I heard. 
And mercy's angel soon appeared ; 
He led me in a placid p??e. 
To Jesus as a Hiding F.ace. 

On Him almighty ver.geance fell : 
Which must have sunk a world to hell, 
He bore it for a sinful race, 
And thus became their Hiding Place. 

Should sevenfold storms of thunder roll. 
And shake this globe from pole to pole. 
No thunderbolt °hall daunt my face. 
For Jesus is my Hiding Place. 

A few more rolling suns at most. 
Shall land me on fair Canaan's coast. 
When I shall sing the song of grace. 
And see m vr glon^us Hiding Place. 



234 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



December, 1921. 




MY NEIGHBOR. 



She loved her Saviour, and to him 
Her costliest present brought ; 

To crown his head, or grace his name, 
No gift too rare she thought. 



So let the Saviour be adored, , 
And not the poor despised, 

Give to the hungry from your 
But all, give all to Christ. 



hoard, 



Go, clothe the naked, lead the blind, 

Give to the weary rest ; 
For sorrow's children comfort find, 

And help fos all distress'd ; 

But give to Christ alone thy heart, 
Thy faith, thy love supreme; 

Then for his sake thine alms impart, 
And so give all to him. 



December, 1921, 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



235 



"THE MANY ANTICHRISTS." 
Rev. Charles A. Blanchard, D. D. 

Address delivered at the National Conven- 
tion of the National Christian Association, Sep- 
tember 29, 1921, at Grand Rapids, Mich., in the 
Sherman Street Christian Reformed Church. 

I wish what our Chairman has said 
about my being an authority was true, 
but it isn't. I am not an authority at all, 
just a student. I do not pose as an au-^ 
thority on any subject, but I can under- 
stand the English language when it is 
fairly spoken or written, and I have 
studied this subject for fifty-two years, — 
since I took up the lodge question as a 
boy in college. 

Do you know what I was thinking of 
while our President, Rev. J. F. Heemstra 
was speaking? I was wondering how 
many of you people believed what he 
said. I know he was honest and he spoke 
plainly and clearly, but I said to myself, 
''Do they believe it or not?" If you be- 
lieve that, ladies and gentlemen, you have 
some serious responsibilities resting upon 
you, and what I was afraid of and what 
I am afraid of still is that you will go 
away and say, "That was splendid and I 
believe every single word," and then go 
sound asleep and never wake up until an- 
other convention. Now I have in my 
hand a programme for this meeting. On 
the last page of this programme there are 
testimonies by Rev. E. P. Goodwin, late 
pastor of the First Congregational 
Church, Chicago ; Dr. A. J. Gordon, late 
Pastor Clarendon Street Baptist Church, 
Boston; Rev. B. T. Roberts, late Editor 
of The Free Methodist; Rev. O. P. Gif- 
ford, and others. Those testimonies, or 
any one of them, under the blessing of 
God, might deliver some friend of yours 
from the slavery of the lodge. Here is 
a bundle of these programmes lying here 
that ought to have been in the hands of 
the people in this town, but they are 
not. They are here. If you people don't 
take them and use them the janitor will 



come along and stick them into the stove. 
They cost money and it might be the 
means of saving a life, and it is a sin for 
Christian people to hear what you have 
heard tonight and then go away indiffer- 
ent. "Yes, of course," you will say, "I 
always believed that, but I haven't done 
anything about it, and I am not going 
to." 

Now you have grave responsibilities 
resting upon you. I don't know how 
many books there are here in your book 
store, but I know there are a number, be- 
cause Brother Phillips told me he sent a 
lot up on consignment, and he came up 
and said to somebody in that store, "If 
you will get those books over to that 
church you will sell every one," but they 
are not here and have not been here. 
And you are also told that there are 
books in the Church Library and you can 
get them and read them. But don't do 
that, go to that book store and clean out 
every book there tomorrow and then put 
them to work. I never heard of anyone 
being converted by a book sitting on a 
shelf. You never heard of one converted 
in that way, and never will. Y"ou have 
responsibilities. People don't like to hear 
about them ; they would rather be praised 
for the good they believe they do, and 
they don't care to be reminded of a thing 
they ought to do. Now, let me tell you 
there are young fellows in this town that 
might be saved from the lodges but will 
not be saved unless you people get a 
move on you. Forgive the word, it is the 
language of the street, but it expresses 
precisely the facts in the case. 

The Collapse of Slavery. 
I am going to remind you of two 
things. When I was a boy slavery ruled 
this country. It ruled the churches ; it 
ruled the courts ; it ruled the state legisla- 
tures ; it ruled the Congress of the United 
States; the President of the United 
States was its abject tool, when I was a 



236 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



December, 1921. 



boy. There were handfuls of people all 
over this country, a few people here and 
there, who were really interested in that 
question, and they got together and 
prayed. They did that in my native 
town. They had regular prayer meet- 
ings, not largely attended but they were 
prayer meetings that got hold on the 
throne of God. 

In 1858, I think it was, the fugitive 
slave law was passed. That law made 
every white man, every freeman in this 
country, a slave catcher. If he was 
called upon by the United States Marshal 
he had to go out and help hunt slaves and 
catch them. If the United States Mar- 
shal called on one to help hunt and catch 
a fugitive slave he would have to do it, 
or be resisting the authority of the Unit- 
ed States. Abraham Lincoln was 
charged by Senator Douglas with want- 
ing to put the slaves to work with knife 
and torch to damage their masters. He 
said, "Do you want to turn those slaves 
loose to burn the houses of their mas- 
ters and ruin their daughters and every- 
thing else?" Lincoln said, "You talk as 
if this thing was going to be done in a 
day. It will take a hundred years to do 
away with American slavery." That was 
Lincoln who said that ; that it would take 
a hundred years to do away with Ameri- 
can Slavery. I suppose you all admit 
that Wendell Phillips was as good an 
abolitionist as there was in this country, 
and he said it would take two hundred 
years. I am sure you will all agree that 
the author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin," Har- 
riet Beecher Stowe, was a good abolition- 
ist. She visited Queen Victoria of Eng- 
land and the Queen gave her a pair of 
bracelets on one of which she had caused 
to be engraven the date on which slavery 
was caused to be abolished in the West 
Indies. The other bracelet was plain and 
Queen Victoria said to Harriet Beecher 
Stowe, "Put the date on this bracelet 
when slavery is abolished in your coun- 



try, as it will be bye and bye, and you 
will then have the dates on those brace- 
lets when the two greatest Anglo-Saxon 
countries in the world abolished slavery." 
When Harriet Beecher Stowe got over to 
this country and showed the people those 
two bracelets that the Queen had given 
her, she said, "I don't expect to see that 
bracelet engraven, and I am afraid my 
daughter will not see it, but I have faith 
to believe that my granddaughter will see 
that bracelet engraven." Lincoln him- 
self signed the decree of emancipation in- 
side of two or three years after he said 
it would take one hundred years, and I 
knew Wendell Phillips well years and 
years after he said it would take two 
hundred years, but soon after he said it 
there was not a slave in the country. 
And Harriet Beecher Stowe saw her 
granddaughter grow up to doubt that 
there ever were slaves in this country. 
"The Liquor Traffic Outlawed." 
You people are greatly in danger of 
not knowing what God can do in Grand 
Rapids with the lodges. Every single 
thing that my brother has said about the 
lodges is true. What I want you to be- 
lieve is that it is important. And it is 
entirely possible, if Christian people will 
wake up to put this thing out. You say, 
here are millions and millions of mem- 
bers of these lodges ; the orders can be 
numbered by hundreds and the lodges by 
tens of thousands; do you mean to say 
that whole system can be wiped out? 
That is precisely what I am trying ta 
say, but that thing will never be done un- 
less somebody wakes up. Now, there are 
numbers of young fellows near to you 
in this town that will be lodge men in- 
side of two years if you neglect your 
duty, and some of them will come out of 
your own house and some will take 
money that you men earn to pay their 
admission fee into the lodges if you don't 
do your duty. On the other hand, if you 
will do your duty and stir up the rest 



December, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



237 



also, you will find God will work against 
lodges precisely as he worked against 
slavery and intemperance. How many 
of your people believed five years ago 
that at this time in 192 1 it would be ille- 
gal to sell or make for beverage purposes 
intoxicating liquor in the United States? 
Stand up, those of you who believed five 
years ago that the liquor trade would be 
an outlaw in this country. No, none of 
you believed that. If anybody had stood 
up and said that he believed that five 
years ago, his neighbors would have said 
he was a liar ever since he was born. 
Five years ago I did not believe that. I 
knew the liquor shop was doomed ; I 
saw the handwriting was on the wall, but 
I never dreamed it would come as quick- 
ly as it did. 

Will You Act as if You Cared? 
Now do you want me to tell you what 
your great danger is ? It is not that you 
won't pay the dressmaker. I believe you 
will do that. It is not that you won't 
wash your faces and hands Sunday morn- 
ing. I believe you will do that. I believe 
you will pay your quarterage as you 
ought to. I am not suspecting you of 
cheating the Church out of your sub- 
scription. But I am afraid you won't 
act as if you cared whether the young 
men of this town go to heaven or hell. 
That is what I am afraid of. And I tell 
you now, as the servant of my Master, I 
tell you that it is possible to put the lodges 
where slavery and the liquor shops have 
gone, and it is our duty to do it. And if 
we wake up we will do it. And if we 
don't wake up we will not do it. God 
works through men and he expects His 
children to do their duty. Now I guess 
I am through with that. But I want you 
people to wake up ! We have about thir- 
ty-five churches in this town, half of 
which are on record against the lodges. 
Many of the others are opposed to them. 
What can those churches do if they, in 
the fear of God, move against this ene- 



my? Nobody but God can guess, nor 
how long it will take. But you know and 
I know that when God begins to turn the 
wheels they move very rapidly. 

The Antichrist Must Come. 
I was going to talk to you a little 
while about antichrists. John says, you 
know, antichrist has got to come. Anti- 
christ is that baleful being who in the 
end is to head up and rule all the non- 
Christian systems in the world ; and then 
John goes on and says : Even now there 
are a great many of them. There are 
many now and there will come a time 
when every anti-Christian system in this 
world will be united hand in hand with 
every other anti-Christian system, and 
then the Antichrist, that capable, strong, 
terrible being, called the Antichrist, will 
be the ruler ; and he will especially make 
a bargain with the Jews. Anybody that 
does not see the place that the Jews oc- 
cupy has not studied very much. 
(Right here let me say it won't hurt 
you one bit to read what Mr. Ford is say- 
ing about the Jew's.) They are the cen- 
ter of the line. And the Antichrist is go- 
ing to make a bargain with the Jews and 
he is going to say to the Jews, "You give 
me civil power and I will let you have 
your religion. Y"ou give me civil power. 
Let me rule the world by these anti- 
Christian systems that have been organ- 
ized and that are being organized and are 
to be organized, and you may have your 
religion. You may build your temple 
and reinstate your sacrifices and do what 
you please." And then, after that bar- 
gain has stood for three and a half years 
he will say to them, "I have changed my 
mind about that bargain. You cannot 
have that religion. You cannot worship 
your God. You've got to worship me." 
And he is going to sit in the temple of 
God and show himself that he is God, 
and say, "I am God, and you've got to 
worship me." Now the Jews all have 
militant blood in them. If they did not 



r 



i 



238 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



December, 1921. 



they never would have stood four thou- 
sand years in this way, clear and un- 
mixed as they have ; and when the anti- 
christ says to the Jews, "You have to 
worship me," they will say, "Not on your 
life. We're not going to worship you." 
And then will be the time of Jacob's 
trouble ; then those Jews will cry out and 
say, "Oh, Lord, how long, how long!" 
But at the end of the three years and a 
half Jesus is going to appear and when 
He appears He is going to destroy that 
wicked one with the brightness of His 
coming. 

My brother says light will kill evil. 
Of course it will. It will even kill germs. 
Y^ou take your cellar and if it has in it 
diphtheria germs and typhoid germs, all 
you have to do is to throw open the doors 
and windows and let the light inland it 
will kill the germs ; and the real Light will 
kill the author of the germs ; it will de- 
stroy the power of the Devil ; and will 
kill his great representative in this world, 
the Antichrist. God's light will kill him 
with its brightness when He appears. 
Xow that is the end of this age. There 
are other events, too, for example the 
rapture of the Church. There is coming 
a time, you know, when there will be a 
generation of Christians that will not die. 
There is coming a time when the Lord 
will descend from heaven with a shout, 
with the voice of the archangel, and the 
dead in Christ will rise first. My grand 
old father will rise, my precious mother 
will rise, and the dear ones that have 
walked by my side in my home will rise, 
and my babies, two of them will rise. 
The dead in Christ shall rise first and 
we that are alive and remain — that may 
be you and me — shall be changed, "in a 
moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the 
last trump, for the trumpet shall sound 
and the dead in Christ shall rise and we 
shall all be changed, and shall meet the 
Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be 
with the Lord." When that is going to 



happen I do not know. I did not know 
when the whiskey business was going to 
go, and you did not know either. And 
Lincoln, and Harriet Beecher Stowe and 
W r endell Phillips and nobody knew when 
slavery was going to go, except God.. I 
do not know when all these things will 
happen, but I know that if Jesus Christ 
should descend from heaven with a shout 
while I am talking to you right now you 
would not be any more surprised than the 
people will be when He does come, be- 
cause He says, "B^e ready, for you do not 
know the day nor the hour when the Son 
of Man cometh. Therefore be ready." 
Do not be greedy, do not be worldly — be 
ready, for in such an hour as you think 
not the Son of Man shall come. 
The End of the Gospel Age. 
Now these things that I have been 
speaking of come in the end of the Gos- 
pel Age, and it is running out fast. I 
won't tell you how long it will last be- 
cause I don't know, and if I did I don't 
know as I would tell you. But I see the 
signs. I see the East begin to redden. 
All my life I have wakened early. I 
have not been able to sleep very well 
after one or two o'clock. And always 
when the birds would begin to twitter I 
knew the sun was coming up, and so 
when I see the signs all about me I know 
this age is running out. If you are liv- 
ing for this world you had better quit. 
Live for the world to come. Live for 
the Savior you profess to love. The age 
is running out. One of the signs will be 
the presence of the Antichrist. He is 
coming. Even now there are many 
signs whereby we know that these are 
the last days. John said that 1900 years 
ago, so we see that these are the last 
days that intervene between the first and 
second coming of the Lord, — the days 
that intervene between the coming of our 
Lord for the redemption and the coming 
of our Lord for the destruction of His 
enemie c . These are the last days. They 



December, 1921, 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



239 



have already lasted about 1900 years. 
Nobody knows how much longer they 
will last. Who of you would have be- 
lieved sixty days ago that the Ku-Klux 
Klan, would have been resurrected as it 
has been. 

The Ku Klux Klan that have dragged 
men out of their houses by night and 
covered them with tar and feathers, and 
burned their houses and churches and 
school houses, — which of you would have 
believed that that bloody thing could have 
been resurrected? You did not believe 
it. I did not believe it. We did not 
dream of it, and here it is. Why ? Because 
we are here in the last days. Because 
the signs of our Lord's coming are multi- 
plying. What is the reason that in Los 
Angeles the Masons baptized more than 
100 Masonic babies — and they had the 
audacity to say that if any Christians 
wanted their babies baptized in Christian 
fashion it might be done at the same 
time — "bring them right along ; we love 
everybody, we will baptize your babies, 
too." We are in the last days, and the 
days are running out and the Lord's foot 
is on the threshhold, while His hand is 
on the knob. 
People Believe Everything But the Truth. 

There are many antichrists. When I 
was a boy the common belief was that 
the Roman Church was antichrist, and in 
a certain sense it is undoubtedly true. 
But the antichrist is a person and not a 
system and the Roman Church has never 
denied that Jesus Christ has come in the 
flesh ; they have always affirmed that 
Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. 
Christian Science is another antichrist. 
It says Jesus Christ did not come in the 
flesh. It says that you are not in the 
flesh ; that flesh is an error ; that you are 
mortal mind. You think you ate some 
fine steak today, but you did not, for 
there is no such thing as matter. Every- 
thing is spirit and the result of spirit ac- 
tivity. That is what Christian Science 



says. Friends of mine in Boston said to 
a friend who was a Christian Scientist, 
after Mrs. Eddy died, meaning to be kind 
— "Your great leader is gone," and the 
lady said, "Yes, Mrs. Eddy has been in 
error for more than a week." Even be- 
fore her time in my own state there was 
a woman who stood up and preached and 
said she was the Christ, and some poor, 
fools came down and prayed to her. And 
bye and bye she died and when she died 
she told her followers that the third day- 
she would rise again. Her body was in 
Kansas City and her friends were bring- 
ing it back to Illinois where she had lived, 
and they leaned it up against the side of 
the railway station so she could step out 
of the casket when she waked up, but 
she did not step out. But they did not 
want any grave. They said, "She is not 
dead ; she is just asleep ; she is going 
around again directly." But bye and bye 
the authorities came in and said, "Take 
that body and put it under ground," and 
they were compelled to bury the body. 

In this age people can believe anything 
except what is true. You can't say any- 
thing so stupid and foolish but that peo- 
ple can believe it. Take the doctrine of 
the Holy Spirit ; that the Holy Spirit can 
come into the heart of a man in an instant 
and live in him so that he is an astonish- 
ment to his wife, children and the whole 
community. People cannot believe that. 
No, no, that has to be a process of educa- 
tion; that cannot be done in a minute. 
And yet those same people can believe 
that spirits haven't anything better to do 
than to rap on tables and tip them up 
and come around and appear in the dark 
when the lights are turned down. People 
can believe any fool thing. 

We are in the days when the anti- 
christs are appearing. The Roman 
Church is in a way one of the antichrists. 
I will tell you how. They never have de- 
nied that Jesus Christ was the Son of 
God : they never have denied his human 



240- 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



December, 1921. 



body, but have always affirmed that. But 
they have covered up the sacrifice of 
Jesus Christ with the sacraments of the 
Church and the offices of the priesthood. 
We receive every good gift, even eternal 
life, solely through the blood of the Lord 
Jesus Christ. And anybody who knows 
anything about the Roman Church knows 
that they say that in order to get the 
benefit of the blood of the Christ you 
need the sacraments of the Church and 
you need the offices of the priest. You 
can serve the Devil all your days and go 
to heaven, for the blood will be applied 
because you have the sacraments of the 
Church and the offices of the priest. I 
went to the funeral of a neighbor one 
afternoon, who was a Catholic. We went 
to the Church and the casket was brought 
in, and what do you think the priest said ? 
He said, "That man was a good Christian. 
He took communion only three weeks 
ago ; his lips were all purple with the 
blood of Jesus Christ." That man was 
a drunkard. The house in which he 
should have died was in the hands of 
the brewing company. His daughter 
had been on the street over and over 
again trying to get him back into the 
flat when he was drunk and making him- 
self a public spectacle. And she stood 
there and heard that priest tell that lie. 
"This is a good Christian man ; it is 
only three weeks since he took com- 
munion and his lips were purple with 
the blood of Jesus Christ.'' 

The Roman Church does teach a great 
deal of truth ; it contends for some truth 
that we Protestants ought to contend 
for'; but it does not contend for all truth 
and it covers up the truth it does hold 
with the sacraments of the Church and 
the offices of the priest. - 

The Lodge System, the Antichrist of Our 
Day. 

- But the great antichrist of your day is 
beyond question this lodge system, and 
it is anti-christian because it proposes to 



substitute for salvation by faith,, salva- 
tion by works; it proposes to substitute 
for salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ 
the performance of certain rites and 
ceremonies. 

I am going to let you go now, because 
I know you are tired and I must not 
keep you too long, for if I come again 
I want you to come again. 

I wish you would wake up. You are 
sound asleep, you people. Now I don't 
say that unkindly. I am not unkind, but 
you are sound asleep. Why, such an 
address as you have listened to tonight 
from Rev. Mr. Heemstra ought to wake 
the dead. It ought to make every man 
and woman in this house say, "Is that 
true, what that man has been saying? 
Is that true? If that is true we have a 
lot of work cut out for us and have got 
to be about it." If you would wake up 
there wouldn't be one of these printed 
testimonies left lying here. If you peo- 
ple would wake up there wouldn't be one 
book revealing the influence of secret 
societies on the shelves of your book 
seller. Now, I care a lot for the people 
in Grand Rapids and I wish that the 
young men in Grand Rapids could be 
warned and I wish that wives that have 
to sit down until twehe and one and 
two and three and four o'clock — some- 
one says, "Are the lodge men out until 
four o'clock?" I was, a little while ago, 
visiting in a home and the husband was 
out until four o'clock in the morning. 
I was up early and I went down and 
met him just as he was coming home 
from initiating people all night long. 
My pastor one time had a sewing woman 
in the house and she found a copy of the 
Cynosure on a table. "Why," she said, 
"this is opposed to secret societies, isn't 
it? I did not know anybody was 6p^ 
posed to secret societies. That is what 
ruined my home. We lived up at Ev : 
anston, Illinois. My husband had a lit- 
tle drug store and we had a nice home 



December, 1921 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



241 



and two lovely children and were per- 
fectly happy. One evening my husband 
came home and said, "I have been think- 
ing of joining the Masons," and I did 
not know a thing about them, but I 
knew a great many people belonged to 
them and perhaps it would help my hus- 
band's business ; and I said that I 
thought it would be a very good thing. 
But I was absolutely ignorant. So he 
went and joined, and two or three things 
happened right away. In the first place 
men came visiting who were not men of 
the highest type. My bus 1 : and was no f 
very much of a Christian, but he was a 
gentleman and always associated with 
gentlemen, and those fellows who came 
into my house to see my husband were 
of another type entirely and I did not 
like them. I was afraid. Another thing 
happened right away. My husband be- 
gan to be out nights. Now, he never 
had been out nights. He worked at his 
business during the day and as night 
came he was with me and the children 
and we had our little family circle to- 
gether. But he began to be out nights. 
I tried to be recon *ilcd to it. I thougjit, 
'If he gets on with Ins business, he has 
to be out nights.' but it hurt me. Bye 
and bye he got to going to dedications of 
lodges and installations of officers and 
would be out all night and I stayed 
with the two children at home alone. 
And bye and bye he would go and 
would not let me know beforehand ; and 
one time he went and did not come 
back ; I sent down to the store to find out 
where he was and they said, 'We have 
not seen him for a day or two,' and I 
needed a little money and went to the 
bank where we kept our money and 
found the money was all gone, and I 
never have seen my husband from that 
day to this. I went along for awhile 
and tried to keep the children with me, 
but it was too hard for me and I had to 
put my two children in a home." 



Mass Your Guns for Attack. 

Isn't it a strange thing that a thing 
like that can live in a town like Grand 
Rapids with churches on every side — 
and nobody to lift a warning finger? 
You say, we preach on it once a year. 
I tell you when the war broke out they 
did not fire a gun once a year. They 
massed the guns. General Howard told 
me there were two hundred and forty 
guns along Cemetery Ridge. "Along in 
the afternoon of the third day," he said, 
"we were ordered to stop firing to let 
the guns cool. I think that was what 
fooled Lee ; at all events, I saw 20,000 
men swing out into that open plain. It 
was murder to see those men coming 
right out there against our line, and 
then I got the signal to train my artil- 
lery, and directly 240 guns were sending 
canister through those 20,000 men and 
after firing fifteen minutes we stopped 
and when the smoke cleared away I 
could hardly see a man — everybody was 
down. That is the way men do when 
fighting, and that is the way you will do 
if you wake up. I want you to wake 
up. I don't want to go out of this house 
until everyone of those testimonies is 
gone. They won't do anybody any good 
lying here; they won't teach anybody 
if stuck in the stove. Read the 20th 
verse of the 18th Chapter of John and 
read the 6th Chapter of Second Thes- 
salonians. Study the Bible with refer- 
ence to the antichrists. That is what T 
want you to do. 

God bless you, dear people. You've 
had long enough sleep for the present. 
Wake up and get to work ! Save" the 
young men of this city and nation and 
bye and bye when this;.thing goes you 
will have a right to be glad that you 
have had some small share in the work. 
You will say. "Well, slavery went, the 
liquor shop went, and I didn't do- very 
much ; the lodge has gone and God did 
help me not to be altogether unfaithful. 



?42 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



December, 1921. 



iiiiiiniiiiniisiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiJiiiiiHiiniiiiiiMiiiiiiiNiiiiiNiiniiieiiep^ 



The Question of the Hour 



By E. E. FLAGG 

AUTHOR OF 
"Holden With Cords." 



?|||IIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIUIIilllinUlEEIIIIIIKIEMIII3lll9IHlS!3IlllI]l!!tliillSllil!lili:illlllIifllllillihT' 



"Wall., ye look honest enough," con- 
tinued the man, eyeing him with a scru- 
tinizing glance, "but for all I know ye 
may be the biggest rogue in these parts." 

"And for all I know you may be the 
captain of some robber gang who make 
your cabin their headquarters," retorted 
Nelson, coolly. "I am not sure as it is 
safe for me to stand here talking with 
you." 

The man burst into a horse laugh, evi- 
dently delighted with this prompt pay- 
ment in his own coin. And then he 
sobered suddenly ; a fierce, vindictive glit- 
ter came into his gray eyes, and a sin- 
gular look overspread his whole face. 

"I say, stranger, did ye ever read the 
story of Naboth?" 

"Yes," was Nelson's answer to this 
abrupt and rather startling question. 
"Why do you ask?" 

"Because there's a right smart heap of 
Naboths in the world," was the laconic 
reply. 

Nelson saw he had hold of an odd 
character. 

"I am sorry if it is so," he said, eyeing 
his interlocutor rather curiously, "for 
that would seem to prove that there must 
be a good many Ahabs in the world, and 
I want to think better of human nature." 

"Maybe you want to think better of it 
than the Lord does," responded the other, 
shortly. "You see I'm one of the 
Naboths." 

"That's bad," said Nelson; "but it 
would be a great deal worse to be on 
the other side." 

"I reckon you are about right, 
stranger," said the man, giving Nelson 
another scrutinizing look. "Now if you'll 
excuse me for 'quirin,' Be you a 
Mason?" 

Nelson replied in the negative, and he 
went on, talking in a rapid, excited 
fashion. 

"Then 111 tell you my story. My name 
is Jesse Dukes; I was born and raised 
in Tennessee. I come here and I bought 



a farm — two hundred acres of good bot- 
tom land, the best there was in the 
county. I paid down my money in good 
faith, hard cash, and then it turned out 
that there was something wrong about 
the papers. Ahab wanted my vineyard 
and he got it. My wife was sickly and 
the worry killed her. Our two boys we 
buried before we left Tennessee. I lost 
heart. I didn't care for anything. I don't 
now, only to come across the rascal that 
swindled me out of all I had in the world 
just once"-^-and he clenched his hard 
hand — "see if I wouldn't give him his 
deserts, law or no law, for he won't never 
get 'em any other way. I made a hard 
fight, and if it could only have been a 
fair fight — but he was a Mason, a high 
Mason, and the lawyers were Masons, 
and so was most of the jury and the very 
judge on the bench. And it was all a 
gone case from the start. Now you'll 
'low, stranger, that must ha' come mighty 
hard on a man." 

Nelson had heard Martin Treworthy 
refate such instances of Masonic justice 
in our courts of law, but it was another 
thing to stand face to face with one who 
had felt the iron enter into his soul, and 
hear him tell the tale. 

"Indeed it was hard," he said. "And 
more than that — it was iniquitous." 

Mr. Dukes went on. 

"You was inquirin', stranger, if this 
was a no-license town. Wall, lawfully 
nobody kin sell a drop, but bless yer soul, 
what's law to a man that by jest raisin' 
his hands to his head and lettin' 'em drop 
down agin by his side so" — and Mr. 
Dukes went through a pantomimic repre- 
sentation of a Mason in distressed cir- 
cumstances appealing to a lodge brother 
— "kin put every constable on the wrong 
scent. Now I was raised among the 
mountains where they manufactur'd a 
smart lot of moonshine whisky. Nigh 
every one among the farmers was in the 
business, or else knew consider'ble about 
it. They had their secret oaths and grips 



December, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



243 



and false names to call each other by; 
and they jest defied all guv'nment could 
do to break 'em up. Our nighest neigh- 
bor, Colonel Barker, was head of the 
gang, and he was Deputy United States 
Marshal ; and of his two right-hand men, 
one was Moses Kittle, a deacon in the 
church, and the other was Marion Hawk- 
ins, circuit judge. When there was any 
arrests made, there was the jury made 
up of Masons and members of the gang, 
and Hawkins himself on the bench, and 
in course they'd be discharged." 

Rejected truths have, a curious faculty 
of bewildering us by their sudden reap- 
pearance in all manner of unexpected 
ways and places. Nelson had stubborn- 
ly shut his eyes to the fact that there 
could exist any such alliance offensive 
and defensive between Masonry and the 
liquor traffic. He had said with thou- 
sands of unthinking prohibitionists, "The 
lodge and the dramshop are separate is- 
sues," and refused to believe that they 
were in reality Siamese twins. But if 
one could so successfully protect the 
other in a lonely mountain region of 
Tennessee, why not in Jacksonville ? why 
not anywhere else? 

Jesse Dukes was a true mountaineer. 
He had that spirit of retaliation and vin- 
dictiveness which has made his race fa- 
mous in the history of family and border 
feuds ; he had also their gracious in- 
stincts of hospitality as shown by the 
way in which he pressed Nelson to come 
in and share his humble fare and lodg- 
ings. The latter was much too hungry 
to refuse the first, which he found ex- 
cellent; and too weary not to be able to 
put up with the latter, in spite of the 
utter lack of all civilized appliances ; and 
naturally he improved the opportunity to 
learn more about his host. 

On losing his property, Dukes had 
taken up the trade of a trapper and built 
him a rude cabin by the edge of the river, 
and while he attended to his traps, or 
smoked his pipe in his low cabin door 
through the long, dreamy, summer after- 
noons, he nursed in his heart dreams of 
vengeance. This modern Naboth was by 
no means an ideal Christian, who could 
forgive until seventy times seven ; on the 
contrary he was a very good specimen of 
an unregenerate man. For the lodge un- 
der whose protecting shield he had been 



swindled out of his all he cherished that 
feeling of sullen, helpless wrath with 
which wronged and outraged men re- 
gard institutions too powerful for them 
to combat, and on which they can only 
heap smothered curses. 

Seated by the fire after they had eaten 
their homely supper, for the evening had 
closed in chill and frosty, Jesse Dukes 
entertained his guest with a series of an- 
ecdotes, showing the singular majesty of 
the law under Masonic rule. 

"I 'member now a treasurer in a bank, 
a high Mason, that spekilated with the 
bank's money to the tune of thirty thou- 
sand dollars," he said, while the dim 
light played over his features and threw 
the corners of the cabin into deeper 
shadow, giving a Rembrandt-like touch 
to both. "Wal, they 'rested him and put 
him under bonds for trial. One o' the 
bondsmen was a high Mason, too. and 
doggoned ef the sneakin' varmint didn't 
contrive to put all his property out ot his 
hands, so that when the treasurer took 
leg-bail, and run off to Canady, he didn't 
hev to fork over a red cent ; the rest hed 
to pay it all. One on 'em it completely 
ruined — that was my old neighbor, Ben 
Barksdill. Jist cleaned him out of every- 
thing he hed. Ben was a stout, strong 
man, but he was too far along in life to 
ever reckon on scrapin' enough together 
to git back the home and the farm all 
clear of incumbrance that hed to go un- 
der the hammer afore he could pay his 
part o' the surety. Arter that happened 
he sorter went inter a decline and died. 
The doctors called his disease by one of 
their larn'd names, but they needn't tell 
me. I watched with him the night he 
died, and I tell ye, stranger, that 
man died of a broken heart. A few 
years afterward the treasurer come back 
spick and span and smilin'. and the jus- 
tices let him go free — never laid a finger 
on him. But they took up a poor boy 
that never had any eddication or bringin' 
up whatsomever, and sent him to jail for 
live years jist for stealin' an old watch: 
and it wa'n't re'ly proved agin him. 
nuther. 

"And I 'member a case meaner nor 
that of a man that was treasurer for a 
town, and stole a right smart lot o' the 
town's money. He was a Mason, and 
what should he do but go out to the barn. 



244 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



December, 1921 



git a rope and tie himself up, so's to 
make it appear as if it was all the work 
of robbers. He made up a good story, a 
re'l thrillin' one, tit to go inter a novel, 
and some believed it and some didn't. 
When the case come to trial, the sheriff, 
right afore judge and jury, took a piece 
of rope and tied his own hands in ex- 
actly the same kind o' knots, and showed 
the court jist how easy it could be done. 
Xow what would a been your verdict, 
stranger, ef you'd been sittin' on that ar 
jury?" 

"I don't see but one conclusion, Mr. 
Dukes," said Nelson "I should think no 
better proof could have been given that 
the treasurer stole the money himself 
and hit on this ingenious plan to evade 
detection. He certainly was not ac- 
quitted ?" 

"He sartinly was, stranger, with all 
that evidence right afore 'em. And I 
kin tell you of meaner things nor that. 
We hed some onpleasantness at a 'lection, 
and Dick Mosely, a. sandy-haired chap 
that never happened to hev jined the 
lodge, got mixed up in' the fracas, and 
was 'rested on the charge of flourishin' 
a revolver round a leetle too promiskus 
like. He swore he didn't hev one about 
him, others swore he did, and he was 
sent up for four years. And not long 
aterward a feller that was a Mason 
picked a quarrel with a man he hed a 
grudge aginst, whipped out his revolver 
and fired, jist barely missin' his head, 
and the court fined him ten dollars. 

"And I kin tell you meaner things nor 
that," continued Jesse Dukes, taking up 
his climacteric refrain. "I know'd a Ma- 
sonic sheriff that was sent to 'rest a man 
on a double charge of forgery and big- 
amy, but he kept puttin' it off till the 
raskill made tracks for Mexico. Now I 
want to tell ye how that same sheriff did 
by poor Job Muzzy. Doggoned ef it 
don't rile me up when I git to thinkin' 
on't. Job was as honest a feller as ever 
breathed, but he'd been unfortunit — sick- 
ness in his family, and then he wa'n't 
re'ly one o' the forehanded sort, he nor 
his pap afore. But he did one thing and 
another — teamed some and so managed 
to rub along. I come across him one 
morning, and he seemed oncommonly 
chipper. 'I'm goin' off to work at lum- 
berin',' sez he, 'for awhile. I've jist 



bought a wagon, and I've mortgaged my 
hosses as part payment on't, and I'm 
kalkerlatin' to make a fresh start in the 
spring.' And he spoke of how he hated 
to leave his family, and his little gal in 
perticler. He was jist bound up in that 
child, Lil her name was, and no wonder, 
for she was the cutest, peartest thing; 
and I 'member while we stood there a 
talkin', her a runnin' out in her white 
sunbunnit and her curly hair, yaller as 
gold, callin' 'pappy' in her putty baby 
way. Job went off tellin' everybody the 
same straight story that he told to me, 
and what did that Masonic sheriff do 
but send a special deputy arter him to 
bring him back on pretense that he was 
goin' off to evade payin' the debt, and 
lodge him in jail where he lay three or 
four weeks without the shader of proof 
agin him. And that wa'n't the fust on't. 
While he was there in jail his little Lil 
took sick and died, acryin' in her last 
minutes for her pappy. And they sed it 
was enough to melt a stone to hear poor 
Job Muzzy take on when he comes out, 
and found only a little grave and one of 
her yaller curls left him of his darlin'. 
I tell ye, stranger, things like them burn 
inter a man's heart. I ain't a Christian, 
nor one that's hed much schoolin,' but I 
kin read and I kin think, and I know 
that in the Book they swear on in every 
court room there are heaps of sich texts 
as this : 'Woe to them that decree un- 
righteous decrees to turn aside the needy 
from judgment, and to take away the 
right from the poor.' And it's better than 
meat and drink to me to read them ar 
passages and think the Lord Almighty 
has got a day of reckoning comin'." 

And the trapper's eyes kindled with a 
fierce, sinister gleam, as if already his 
imagination saw that day dawning. This 
rough mountaineer, sitting in his lonely 
cabin and pouring forth his terrible in- 
dictments of that Secret Empire which 
holds in its invisible clutches the life and 
property of American citizens, seemed 
like a confirming angel who had sud- 
denly started up to bear witness to the 
truth which from Martin Treworthy's 
lips Nelson had so often treated with the 
apathetic indifference which is more than 
half skepticism. 

It was in Jesse Duke's cabin that he 
wrote his first letter after his flight from 



December, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



245 



Jacksonville, but through some unfortu- 
nate accident it was delayed, and Mar- 
tha, in the lack of all tidings from her 
betrothed, began to feel an anxiety se- 
cretly shared by Martin Treworthy, to 
whom Nelson was as the son of his old 



age. 



CHAPTER XIX. 



. THE GOOD SAMARITAN. 

Tom's idea that Xelson had gone to 
buy the much talked-of farm proved at 
first very convenient. It kept him in a 
child's state of amused expectancy, but 
like a child his feeble mind soon grew 
impatient at the delay, and a deep-seated 
longing after the one human being who 
had loved and cared for him with a self- 
sacrificing devotion more motherly than 
fraternal took possession of his soul. 
Hour after hour he would sit gazing 
dully into vacancy, but there were other 
times, as we have before stated, when he 
took into his head the strangest and most 
unaccountable freaks ; really periods of 
semi-derangement when his weak brain 
became the prey of some crazy fancy, 
the pursuit of which seemed to have the 
effect for the time being of wakening it 
into an abnormal activity. 

There had been of late a very decided 
improvement, so that even Martin Tre- 
worthy, who knew so well the deceitful 
nature of his disease, could not believe 
that in spite of his apparent increase in 
strength he was actually failing. But 
after X T elson went away he began to pine 
— but so imperceptibly that the fact was 
not realized by his two frends and watch- 
ers. He would eat a few mouth fuls of 
Martha's carefully prepared jellies and 
broths, and then, with the caprice of the 
consumptive invalid, want no more, but 
he refused no medicine however nause- 
ous, and his great, blue, vacant eyes kept 
fast the secret of that longing which was 
consuming his life's already flickering 
taper. 

He liked and was even fond of Martin 
Treworthy, but he had something of the 
instinct which leads an animal to forsake 
new and strange quarters from which it 
misses the familiar hand that has always 
fed it. One thought he brooded over, 
but concealed with a cunning he onlv 
showed when one of these half-insane 
fits was on him ; and that was to steal 
away and find Xelson. 



There came a warm, almost summer- 
like afternoon when Martin Treworthy 
ventured to leave his charge, as he sup- 
posed, quietly sleeping. The south wind, 
the sunshine, and the scents of early 
spring stealing in through the half-closed 
door, combined to excite more than ever 
Tom's restless notion to wander off ; and 
with many furtive glances to the right 
and left to make sure that he was not 
watched and followed, he opened the 
door still wider, and stole out with noise- 
less footfall and heart as exultant as the 
child's who sets out to run after the rain- 
bow. The world was wide, but Xelson 
was somewhere in it, and if he walked 
on and on — poor Tom's fancy made no 
more allowance for possible' obstacles 
than the minds of other dreamers — he 
should certainly find him. 

The fever that was burning in his 
veins buoyed him up with a strange, fic- 
titious strength. In half an hour he had 
left Jacksonville behind him, and guided 
by some dim, undefined instinct he took 
the road that lead due west and directly 
towards Fairfield. It seemed to him 
that the farm Nelson had gone to buy 
must lay somewhere within that circle 
of golden light, and so he pressed on — 
on with his face set towards those pur- 
ple and amethyst splendors, those gates 
of pearl and opal behind which must lay 
the Paradise he sought. 

When at length the road deviated to a 
more southerly direction, he quitted it 
and took a straight course across the 
fields. It was not easy traveling. His 
feet sank in the brown, ploughed earth, 
sharp pains came with every breath he 
drew, but the strange impulse was on 
him still. He stopped at a house where 
some children were playing, and inquired 
if they had seen Nelson. A woman came 
to the door, but she thought him only a 
crazy tramp, and his inquiry elicited 
merely a pitiful comment which he did 
not understand. He turned away and 
went on. The light grew paler, till but 
one long, golden bar remained. The night 
fell darkling with all its mystery of 
silence and shadow and starlight. Ter- 
ribly weary and chilled to the bone he 
finally crept unnoticed into a barn whose 
doors stood hospitably open, and found 
warmth and shelter, like any other va- 
grant, in the hay. 



246 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



December, 1921. 



It happened to be a barn on Mr. Dem- 
ing's estate, to whose household we will 
pay another visit, while poor Tom sleeps 
on. blessedly forgetful for the time being 
of the wild notion that has taken posses- 
sion of his weak brain, and Martin Tre- 
worthy, in a state bordering on distrac- 
tion, has engaged the police in an active 
search after the missing boy. 

Mr. Israel Deming was discoursing 
with Uncle Zeb on various matters : the 
prospect of a war in Europe, the state 
of the grain market, and the peculiar 
disadvantages under which American 
farmers labored. Dora was standing at 
the window looking dreamily out to the 
still faintly glowing west, and thinking 
— but Dora's secret dreams and visions 
are her own, and, though in a sense they 
are far more foolish than Tom's, we will 
not meddle therewith. Mrs. Deming, as 
usual, was not so far distant but that 
she could put in her word on occasion. 

"I s'pose now," remarked Uncle Zeb, 
"a war in Europe would raise the price 
of breadstuff's and make business livelier, 
but then in the long run I don't know 
about it. War is a bad thing, look at it 
any way you will." 

"I know it will take more than a 
brush among the nations on the other 
side of the globe to cure our hard times," 
said Mr. Deming, decidedly. "It is a 
rascally shame the way public affairs are 
managed. Just look at it a minute. 
More wheat raised last year than we 
knew what to do with, and here are the 
Indians starving on their reservations, 
and thousands of unemployed workmen 
whose families don't know where their 
next meal of victuals is coming from. 
The power is all slipping into the hands 
of the few. We used to send brains to 
Congress and no money; now we send 
money to Congress and no brains." 

Dora was sorry for anybody who had 
to starve. It must be dreadful, but then 
it was nothing that she could help. She 
didn't vote nor make the laws. And as 
for the ballot for woman, she had all the 
rights she wanted already. Why should 
she concern her head about politics? 
Such ideas we may hear daily from the 
lips of charming creatures who, secure in 
the affection of husbands and fathers, 
can embroider lambrequins and crazy 
quilts, and read the latest society novel 



all day long if they choose, and never a 
thought for that great army of sad-eyed, 
patient women from whom the rum 
traffic is draining the life-blood drop by 
drop, while they stand selfishly in the 
way to keep from the hands of their less 
fortunate sisters the only weapon that 
can redress their wrongs. So don't be 
too severe on our little Dora, who could 
be pitiful enough to any case of individ- 
ual distress brought directly under her 
notice, but whose sensibilities distress 
in the gross, represented by figures — so 
many starving Indians, or so many vic- 
tims of the dramshop — did not greatly 
affect. 

"Arter all, farmers have the best on't 
when there comes a pinch," said Uncle 
Zeb. "Got that machine in running or- 
der yet, Mr. Deming?" 

Mr. Deming had a feeling that Uncle 
Zeb saw through his disappointment in 
the grange, and was slyly laughing at 
him. But he did not choose to confess 
that the machine had not so far paid ex- 
penses. His wife was in hearing dis- 
tance, and he dreaded her keen opinion 
much more than he did Uncle Zeb's in- 
ward chuckle. 

"There's a good deal about it that I 
don't see the use in," he said, cautiously. 
"But then it suits the young people, and 
if it gives them a taste for the soil and 
a little innocent amusement besides, why, 
it's a good thing so far as it goes. I 
don't suppose it is really time yet to pass 
judgment on it fairly." 

"Well, when is it time, Mr. Deming?" 
put in his spouse. "After you've got 
your fingers cut ? And as for the young 
people, it is my opinion that the grange 
will teach them as much of farming as 
the Good Templars did of temperance, 
and not a thimbleful of either one." 

Uncle Zeb chuckled in silence while 
Mr. Deming laughed, it being the only 
answer he could make under the circum- 
stances. He had begun to find out that 
the grange was a rather costly machine, 
and could not help inwardly acknowledg- 
ing that for the agricultural classes who 
had so little ready money, the simple and 
despised farmer's club had its points of 
advantage. But it did not occur to his 
mind, strangely enough, that he was him- 
self helping on the transfer of power 
from the many to the few by paying 



December, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



247 



away his money to a secret organization, 
to go in turn into the hands of unknown 
leaders, thus supplying the means for 
that very corruption and demagogism he 
inveighed against so bitterly. But Mr. 
Deming was perhaps as consistent as 
most men. The limit of our vision 
which forbids Cs to see both sides of a 
sphere at once has its analogy and coun- 
terpart in the moral world. 

To Dora there were some things about 
the grange which made it more attrac- 
tive than Good Templarism. She liked 
the mixture of flowery sentimentality in 
the lectures ; she liked to join in the 
harvest dance — even her mother could 
not object to a pleasant, social recreation 
not lasting more than five minutes — and 
she enjoyed immensely the distinction 
accorded her as an acknowledged beauty, 
of personating one of the three heathen 
goddesses who are the presiding 
geniuses of the grange. All these were 
among the things in which Air. Deming 
"saw no use," but a young and pretty 
girl intent on making conquests, and a 
hard-headed old farmer who is chiefly 
interested in the management of stock 
and the various kinds of fertilizers, 
might naturally be supposed to regard 
such a subject from widely different 
standpoints. 

Dora happened to visit the barn early 
in the morning. She saw a supposed 
tramp asleep on the hay, and fled for the 
house with a wild scream that routed 
Tom and frightened him even more than 
his sudden apparition had alarmed his 
sister. He scrambled out of his hiding 
place, and when Dora had reached the 
shelter of the kitchen porch and turned 
to look once more she saw the object of 
her terror crossing the fields on a curi- 
ous, staggering run. He must have been 
drinking. How lucky he hadn't set fire 
to the barn or done some other dreadful 
thing! Dora had a mortal and certainly 
a very excusable horror of a drunken 
man. 

Tom, in his feverish sleep, had 
dreamed of Nelson's farm. He thought 
they were both there together and ev- 
erything was so beautiful and bright. 
and he was perfectly happy. Even in 
the shock of his waking up there still re- 
mained a shattered remnant of the be- 
atific vision. The sun was rising full 



and glorious. Royally unclosed tihose 
golden gateways of the east for the 
monarch's triumphal passage. But above 
stretched a low-lying, ominous bank of 
slaty-colored clouds, and as he rose 
higher and higher they spread over him 
their pall-like mantle. The wind grew 
chill and keen and piercing, and a few 
drops of rain began to fall — not man}', 
but enough to chill poor Tom to the very 
marrow. 

He had taken once more to the high 
road. A passer-by eyed him curiously, 
but his staggering gait was again-t him 
and wakened suspicion in other minds 
besides Dora's that he had been drinking. 

At last, unable to go further, he sank 
down utterly exhausted by the roadside. 
He seemed to have no consciousness but 
of such utter weariness that it seemed 
like a bottomless abyss in which even 
pain was swallowed up. 

Dennis O'Sullivan, at that particular 
moment, was standing in the door of his 
shanty and calculating the chances for a 
rainy day, with a thought of his unfilled 
demijohn. The walk to Jacksonville, 
the nearest point at which he could pro- 
cure liquor since Peter Snyder had aban- 
doned the business, was considerably 
longer than he cared to take unless the 
cravings of appetite grew unendurable. 

By way of assisting his mental con- 
clusions he lighted his old clay pipe, 
apostrophizing meanwhile an aged goat 
which was allowed free run of the 
O'Sullivan mansion, and over which he 
unfortunately stumbled in his efforts to 
find a match. The animal really looked 
patriarchal enough with his long beard 
to have a certain mythological suggestive- 
ness as if he might be some kind of 
household Lares. 

Dennis, in his sober moments, had 
sufficient sense to know and acknowl- 
edge that he and his family had been 
better off since the day that Peter 
Snyder emptied his casks of rum into the 
creek. But he had given place to the 
devil of strong drink quite too long for 
the mere fact that he had now to go 
several miles instead of a few rods after 
it to work a thorough reformation. If 
the strongest advocate of moral as op- 
posed to legal suasion would but make 
a practical test of his theory on Dennis 
O'Sullivan as he stands at this moment. 



248 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



December, 1921. 



a poor, ignorant Irishman, ready to sell 
soul and body for a glass — no, for a drop 
of the fiery poison that has nearly burned 
up will and conscience in its fierce flame, 
he might confess that there are cases in 
which it proves a broken reed, and the 
need of something stronger grows very 
imperative. 

Dennis smoked away for a few mo- 
ments. The clouds gathered thicker, 
the rain fell in larger drops, but that 
empty demijohn must be filled. He 
took it from the shelf and with hat 
slouched over his eyes started forth with 
a feeling that was partly shame, partly 
a fierce determination to have it or per- 
ish, and partly the involuntary impulse 
of the passion within him. 

At the very same moment Peter Sny- 
der was setting forth on a vastly differ- 
ent errand. From the moment he had 
surrendered himself to his divine Cap- 
tor, one thought, one desire had pos- 
sessed his soul — the thought, the 
desire that possessed Saul of Tarsus. 
Oh, to be allowed to do as much good 
as he had hitherto done evil ! And so 
he had been led irresistibly to tell his 
experience wherever he could find any- 
one to hear it; and as this is just what 
the world of sinning, suffering men and 
women want, he had begun — not to 
preach exactly, in his humility he would 
have been the first one to disclaim a 
preacher's title — but to tell the story at 
temperance and revival meetings of how 
the Lord had met him, shown him Him- 
self, granted him mercy, hardened 
wretch though he was, and how that 
same mercy must then be for everyone. 
Only the simple, ever-new story of One 
who calls not the righteous but sinners 
to repentance. But from Peter Sny- 
der's lips it had a strange power, and as 
we have said he was often called upon 
to tell it in an uncultured but earnest, 
almost inspired fashion that sent many 
to weeping and praying who had never 
wept or prayed before. 

They both took the same road. Peter 
Snyder had a few moments the prece- 
dence, and thus he came soonest on. the 
prostrate form of Tom. 

"Sleeping off a spree, most likely." was 
his first thought ; as it appeared to be also 
of another man who rode by on horse- 



back, then reined in his horse arid rode 
back. 

"He ought to be taken to the lockup, 
but we haven't a constable worth the 
name in Fairfield," and with this ex- 
pression of contempt for Fairfield's rural 
police the man rode on, leaving Mr. 
Snyder to deal with the x:ase as he best 
might, and also to some meditations on 
Masonic charity — for he knew the man 
to be a prominent Mason — that were not 
flattering to the much-vaunted benevo- 
lence of the order. 

He bent over Tom, examined ihim 
carefully and saw at once the truth. He 
was in a fainting fit from exhaustion. 
The face he had certainly seen before. 
It was Nelson Newhall's feeble-minded 
brother, and rushing back on his mind 
came the memory of the wrong he had 
done or allowed to be done him, and the 
swift and righteous punishment which 
had been visited on his head. Mr. Sny- 
der regarded that punishment now in a 
very different light, as all just and right, 
and not the thousandth part of what he 
deserved. He was about to try alone to 
bear the unconscious Tom to a place of 
shelter when Dennis O'Sullivan came up, 
but did not pass by, Levite like, as did 
the other ; but stopped, his compassion- 
ate Irish heart prompting him to aid all 
he could. 

Mr. Snyder's eye caught sight of the 
demijohn. 

"The Lord didn't mean you should get 
that filled today, Dennis. Here is a boy 
that is sick ; we must get him in some- 
where out of the rain." 

Dennis threw down his demijohn very 
willingly, and together they lifted up 
Tom and carried him to shelter. Dennis 
had never been quite able to get over his 
doubts of Mr. Snyder's sanity, but he 
had a feeling that he was going to do a 
very foolish thing which he would rue 
on the morrow, and it seemed even to 
his ignorant heart as if heaven had had- 
pity on his weakness and stopped him- 
from his errand to Jacksonville. -'" ~ - 

. Mr. Snyder, on this subject, had no- 
doubts whatever. He had been stopped 
from giving his testimony at the- meet- 
ing to which he was bound. But whaf 
matter ? He had now Other work to do : 
perhaps the undoing in some measure o'f- 
f ormer evil ; at least the trying to, which- 



December, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



249 



in the Lord's sight might count for as 
much. 

(To Be Continued.) 



We have not to wrestle with God, but 
before God for things. 

Loving God with all our heart is to 
set His will before us as our joy. 



A Georgia planter, writing in The In- 
dependent, says that the principal activ- 
ities of the revived Ku Klux Klan in his 
section is "to protect the white moonshin- 
ers and to stop the negroes from making 
whiskey for themselves or for sale." He 
says the state officials rarely interfere to 
enforce the Volstead Act and that they 
are often interested parties in these illicit 
stills. 



"Can anyone retain salvation and hold 
communion with God, and belong to any 
secret society? 

"You can have salvation and be a 
member of a secret lodge, if you do not 
enjoy sufficient light to convict you 'of 
sin in so doing. In case that you are 
convicted by the Holy Spirit, and realize 
that it is wrong, you will forfeit your 
justification, if in that case or any other 
you sin against light and knowledge. I 
preached fifteen years while a member of 
a Masonic Lodge, enjoying a very happy 
regeneration ; but it was because I had 
no light on it, and was not convicted that 
it was wrong. When the Lord sanctified 
me, He swept away lodgery and all other 
worldliness. I do not think any person 
could retain sanctification and belong to 
a secret lodge." — God's Revivalist. 

The same kind of an answer should be 
given as to slaveholding, habitual use of 
intoxicating drinks, gambling, or any 
other evil practice. 



ROYAL LEAGUE, KNIGHTS OF LIB- 
ERTY, RED MEN AND MASONIC 
ORDER. 

Dear Brother Phillips : 

Whenever I am asked to speak or 

write as to the effect of the lodges upon 

a confessing Christian I gladly do so in 

all sincerity. 

In answer to your question, I have left 



the Royal League, Knights of Liberty, 
Red Men and Masonic order. 

Why I left them — that is a harder 
question to answer, but it came down to 
this, that I might be an out-and-out man 
for Christ. 

Your former President of the Na- 
tional Christian Association, Rev. W. 
Stuart, was the means in God's hand 
of bringing the light to me — not that 
"light" which comes from removing the 
hoodwink and standing amidst the three 
burning candles, but that "Light" which 
draws men close to God and puts within 
them the desire to live as God-confessing 
believers should. Y'ou, dear friends, 
may not know me, but if the love of 
Christ is in you, you will see the lodge 
evil in much the same way as I have 
come to see it and do see it more clearly 
each day. 

If you love Christ, and yet are a Ma- 
son, you may not use His name in prayer 
in the lodge room. Masonry knows no 
creed or sect, except that of the universal 
"Fatherhood of God and Brotherhood of 
Man." The Jew, Gentile Mohammedan, 
Buddhist, Confusionist, etc., all kneel at 
the same altar to the "Great Architect of 
the Universe," although none of these 
may call upon his own "God." 

The better lodge man the worse a 
Christian ; the better the Christian the 
worse a lodge man ; until finally it comes 
to the point where he is either a Chris- 
tian or lodge man. 

I attach copy of my resignation sent to 
the Masonic order. As to the other 
lodges — I have just forgotten about them 
and let them go. but the Masonic order 
is different and it was not so easy to 
get free from it. 

Friends, all of you, if the lodge inter- 
ests you, get to Christ, and when He in- 
terests you really and convincingly the 
lodge will not attract you longer. 

May God really use some of you peo- 
ple to stand up for your principle and 
then the inconsistency of trying to serve 
two masters will be apparent. In clos- 
ing I plead with you all to be loyal to 
Jesus Christ, for you cannot serve two 
masters. No man can be off the fence 
and on the fence at the same time. 

May God's blessing go with my tes- 
timony and may all "Christ confessors" 
be true and faithful in all things, and 



250 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



December, 1921. 



so stand out from the world that the 
world shall say: There's a man for 
Christ who is with Christ and lives by 
Christ. 

I praise God for the light He has given 
me and I pray that he may give further 
light to all of us. W.M. J. Nydam. 

— 10334 Michigan Ave., Chicago, 111. 



The following official Masonic correspond- 
ence is copied from the originals. [Editor.] 
Hall of Kensington Lodge, 
804 A. F. & A. M. 

1 1037 Michigan Ave., Chicago, 111. 
Chicago, 111., June 16, 191 5. 
Brother W. J. Nydam, 
10508 Wabash Ave., 
Dear Sir: Your dues to December 31 
is $3.00. I am directed to request you 
to appear at lodge hall Saturday evening, 
June 26th and show cause why you 
should not be suspended for non-pay- 
ment of dues. Fraternally, 

(Signed) H. A. Wray, Secy. 



Chicago, 111., June 23, 1915. 
Kensington Lodge 804, A. F. & A. M. 
Mr. Wray, Secretary. 

Dear Sir: Your notice requesting me 
to appear at Lodge hall the 26th inst. to 
show cause why I should not be sus- 
pended for N. P. D. at hand. 

Gentlemen, after having considered 
this matter earnestly and prayerfully I 
have firmly decided that it is my desire 
to be suspended and no longer to be rec- 
ognized as a member— a Master Mason 
of the Masonic fraternity for the fol- 
lowing reasons : 

That having joined of my own free 
will and accord and answered that I put 
my trust in God, I now wish to say to 
you all, my trust is in God and Him 
alone and I am conscientiously convinced 
that Masonic teachings are inconsistent 
with the Divine teachings of God as re- 
vealed in the Holy Bible, which I accept 
as the rule and guide of my faith. 

Therefore, as no man can serve two 
masters, neither can I be true to two dif- 
ferent teachings and thus must drop the 
secular Masonic teaching to give myself 
entirely to Jesus Christ and His Divine 
teachings. 

I deem it, therefore, my duty to with- 
draw of my own free will and accord, 



enabling myself to put my whole trust 
in God and as a subject of King Jesus 
Christ, looking up to Him for all things, 
necessitating therefore that I loosen my- 
self from all teachings and doctrines not 
in full harmony with Jesus Christ, my 
Lord and Savior. 

Hoping you may grant my request un- 
grudgingly and unreservedly, I am, 
Sincerely yours, 

(Signed) Wm. J. Nydam. 

17 E. 103d Place. 



Hall of Kensington Lodge, 
804, A. F. & A. M. 

1 1037 Michigan Ave., Chicago, 111. 
Chicago, 111., June 28, 1915. 
Bro. W. J. Nydam, 
17 E. 103d Place. 
Dear Sir : I regret to inform you that 
on Saturday evening, June 26th, 1915, 
you were indefinitely suspended for non- 
payment of dues. Fraternally, 

(Signed) H. A. Wray, Secy. 



"LIZZIE WOODS' LETTER." 

,^ 

Dear Cynosure: 

This writing finds me at home again 
in Omaha, Nebraska, and I am going to 
tell you about my southern and eastern 
trips. 

I left Omaha the 28th of August and 
stopped at Kansas City, Missouri, until 
September the 2nd. It was a big tent 
meeting. We can always reach all classes 
of people under a tent. That is about 
the only way in these times you can 
have an opportunity to preach the whole 
truth. Rich and poor, black and white, 
will go to a tent meeting. Some come for 
fun and go home mad ; some get rid of 
their sins ; some backsliders get re- 
claimed ; some lodge men and women 
and children give up their lodges. More 
than twenty gave up their sins in that 
meeting. We always keep the sin of 
secret societies before the people. And 
so when they forsake their sins, the lodge 
membership goes, too. Many men came 
to hear about Masonry. It seemed to me 
that the Masons get mad much sooner 
than any other lodgemen. 

I left Kansas City and stopped over 
at Memphis, Tennessee, for about five 
hours and then went on to Roanoke, Vir- 
ginia, and stopped there till the 4th of 



December, 1921. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



251 



September. I made house-to-house vis- 
its, praying with the sick, distributing 
tracts and teaching Bible lessons. I also 
taught in public four evenings and had 
a nice congregation each night. One 
night I was exposing the secrets of Ma- 
sonry and when the lesson was finished 
two, a brother and sister, came forward 
and put a few dollars in my hand. The 
pastor was taking an offering for me at 
the same time. Some said, "It is pretty 
hard on the lodge, but she is right." 'The 
men in the lodges think more of the 
lodge than they do of the church." 

I left Roanoke the 8th of September 
for Norfolk, Virginia, to attend the state 
meeting of the Church of God in Christ. 
I found a big tent stretched for the meet- 
ing. I taught a lesson every day in the 
morning to the women and at night to 
the whole congregation. There were 
three or four thousand people present 
every night. 

One night after I was through talk- 
ing I sent a young man that I had raised 
from a little boy, to sell some "Free- 
masonry at a Glance." Some of the men 
on the outside of the tent were buying 
them when one man said, "Ain't you 
afraid some of these Masons will kill 
you?" and he said, "No, I have no fear; 
I want them to see the sin of the lodges." 
The man said, "That is a good way to 
do it if you want to get killed." The 
young man said, "That is just what 
mother was trying to show you tonight, 
that Masonry makes men murderers." 
One man said, "The lodges just get sin- 
ners and Christians all mixed up to- 
gether and then they play horse with 
God's word." 

Some good honest men heard and re- 
ceived my message and I was invited to 
speak in two other churches in Norfolk. 
They were glad to hear me. and told me 
if I would come back they would send 
me my railway fare, and have me hold 
a ten days' meeting. 

I left Norfolk the 19th of September. 
Stopped at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 
one night. They had a tent meeting and 
I had a chance to teach one lesson there. 
I did not forget to declare the whole 
council of God. The weather was rainy 
and cold for tent service, and so we went 
on to Pittsburgh on the 21st and stopped 



over until the 25th. We held a good 
meeting there. I don't think I ever saw 
so many men in a meeting before. We 
had a good chance to tell them of the sin 
of secret societies. A man said to me 
on the second evening, "We are all in- 
terested in your Bible teaching. We are 
nearly all of us church members, but 
we don't understand God's will to his 
people as you have taught us and we 
wish you would stay longer. I for my 
part mean to obey every word of God 
when I am made to understand it ; and 
I am voicing the sentiment of all those 
men who heard your lessons." I was 
sorry I could not stay longer. So many 
people have honest hearts and would live 
Christian lives if they had some one to 
teach them. 

I left the 25th for Detroit, Michigan. 
Stopped there to the Michigan state meet- 
ing. I did not have any tracts left, but 
I took God's Bible and showed men their 
sin. I know their lodge secrets by heart 
and I did not fail to use my knowledge 
so that the brothers would know that I 
knew something about Masonry. 

Some said that "the men who belonged 
to the N. C. A. are religious fanatics and 
have no sense. Who can break up the 
lodges?" I said, "No one can break 
them up. They belong to the Devil and 
his angels, but God is going to take his 
people out of them ; then the rest of you 
who don't want to come out can go on 
to hell, for that is the Devil's place for 
all his children. The Devil has lots of 
children. He is the father of all liars. 
(John 8:44.) 

In spite of all the opposition many 
were saved during the ten days' meeting. 

I left Detroit the 4th of October and 
stopped over in Chicago until the 10th. 
I visited EWer Roberts' church and two 
missions while there. I also called to see 
Secretary Wm. I. Phillips in our office 
and had a nice talk with him and Miss 
Johnson. Bro f her Phillips and Miss 
John c on always seen to be glad to see 
"Lizzie Woods." We talked and prayed 
about the work and that God would 
raise up some more good men and wom- 
en to stand up for Him in this particular 
work. Brother Phillips loaded me up 
with tracts and books, so I am able to 
go on to the firing line again. 

I held meetings on the West Side for 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



December, 1921. 



five evenings. I told my people that 
their lodges were being exposed just like 
the Ku Klux Klan. God always has 
somebody brave enough to warn men 
against the greatest anti-Christ of today. 
When the Masons killed Capt. Wm. 
Morgan that let the Devil out of the 
wallet, and when the K. K. K. began to 
tar and feather their own people, the 
Devil pulled the cover off of himself. 
Xow they are trying to make President 
Harding think that the K. K. K. is dif- 
ferent from the Klan in reconstruction 
days just after the Civil War. But I 
hope the President will wipe them out 
of existence like President Grant did. I 
myself know that they ran colored men 
away from their houses and then rav- 
ished their wives and daughters. 

Personal Experience. 

They beat the man whom I am now 
married to nearly to death. He was 
working for a white man who told him 
to go to the well and get some water. 
When he drew the water a white woman 
that was washing at the well said to him, 
''Draw me a tub of water." He answered, 
"I have not time. I am hired to Mr. 
Johnson." She got mad because he 
would not draw the water and told the 
K. K. K. leader that she had told the 
nigger to draw her a tub of water and 
he was impudent to her. The Klan got 
together and went to the white man to 
whom my husband was hired and told 
him that they had come after his nigger. 
The white man said, "He is a good boy 
and he has not done anything to that 
woman. I am just getting over the fever 
and I told the boy to hurry to the well 
and get me a drink, and because he did 
not take time to draw that woman a tub 
of water she got mad." They said to 
him, "If you don't let us have him we 
will take you." He was scared and they 
took the boy away to the woods. There 
were about 500 white men and boys, all 
wrapped up like ghosts. They carried 
him into the woods and tied him and 
then ten of them hit him ten licks apiece. 
Then the chief Hobgoblin hit him twen- 
ty-five licks and then untied him and 
told him to run. He was not able to 
run ; then some of them ran up to 
him and knocked him down with the 
butt of their guns and stamped him 



nearly to death and left him to die. He 
crawled back nearly to where his mother 
was working. And when the white man 
that he was . working for was told that 
he was still alive he carried him home 
to his mother and got a doctor. He also 
helped her in her care of him until he 
got well. The present Ku Klux Klan is 
no different from the old one. God help 
us all is my prayer. Amen. 

Lizzie W. Roberson. 



EASTERN SECRETARY'S REPORT. 

BY REV. W. B. STODDARD. 

This fifteenth day of November I am 
again addressing you from the Smoky 
City, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Human- 
ity here appears to be pushing as usual. 
Results in my line are as good as in 
other years. The past month has afford- 
ed unusual opportunities for reaching 
friends in many kinds of meetings. 
While in Boston, Massachusetts, I wor- 
shiped with the First Covenanter and 
First United Presbyterian congregations. 
At New Haven, Connecticut, I got the 
subscription to the Cynosure of all the 
Lutheran pastors and received requests 
for lectures that will D. V. be arranged. 
The students, nearly 200 in number, at 
Concordia College, Bronxville, New 
York, gave me a royal welcome and 
manifested much interest in the lecture 
I gave them. My lecture at Burgess 
Place Reformed Church, Passiac, New 
Jersey, was not so largely attended as 
some, but helpful. I discovered there at 
least one seceder from the lodge. The 
largest offering in aid of our work was 
made by the Young Men's Society of the 
Lodi, New Jersey Christian Reformed 
Church. They spoke of their apprecia- 
tion of my efforts and requested fur- 
ther discussion of the subject. 

When I called to secure the renewal 
of the Cynosure of a friend in Paterson, 
New Jersey, he told how the wife of a 
near neighbor had come to his wife ra- 
diant with joy because her husband was 
about to join the Masons. She said he 
tells me "they are awfully religious !" 
The poor woman had known his lack of 
religion and in her ignorance rejoiced 
in what she hoped would be an improve- 
ment. She will likely discover to her 
sorrow that the awful religion does no 
good. How awfully ignorant some are 



December, 1921 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



253 



who are "awfully religious" without any 
Savior ! 

I reached home in time to attend three 
sessions of the convention held by our 
National Reform friends to bring influ- 
ence on the limitation of armament par- 
ley. The program included the leaders 
of the National Reform Association, to- 
gether with a long list of noted men such 
as Hon. Henry Van Dyke, Hon. Sam W. 
Small and Hon Clinton N. Howard, Dr. 
Edwin C. Dinwiddie, who represented 
the Good Templars, and Mrs. H. H. 
George, the W. C. T. U. As expected, 
all put forth the strongest kind of argu- 
ments for the limitation of armament. 
The very existence of civilization was 
at stake, we were told. Dr. Dinwiddie 
said their Grand Lodge meeting in Nor- 
way had been largely broken up by the 
brothers called home to "fly at each oth- 
er's throats." A resolution requesting 
the President to have the parley opened 
with prayer was passed and duly pre- 
sented. 

Coming to Scottdale, Pennsylvania, I 
found our Mennonite friends progressing 
as expected. A new building 80x110 
feet, four stories high is in process of 
construction for the printing plant. This 
is larger than the original building and 
comes none too soon, I am told, to meet 
the ever-increasing need. On Sabbath 
morning I was privileged to speak to 
the largest congregation I had ever seen 
in their church. My address that even- 
ing was delivered to a good congregation 
gathered in the Mount Pleasant Church 
of The Brethren. Quite a number of 
new friends were there found. Passing 
through Greensburg, Jeanette, Braddock 
and Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, I found 
friends and helpers. In response to an 
invitation by the Elder I was privileged 
to address the pastors and delegates to 
the district conference of our Free Meth- 
odist friends' meeting on Mt. Washing- 
ton. Their response, as always, was 
cheering. A very interesting program 
was carried out in the old Eighth street 
Covenanter Church, this city, last Thurs- 
day evening at the unveiling of memorial 
service flags. The addresses and recita- 
tions were of a patriotic nature. No 
church has been more loyal in its testi- 
mony opposing the lodges than the Cov- 
enanter. So far as is known there is 



not a lodge man in their entire member- 
ship. 

Last Sabbath I served friends at 
Woodlawn, Pennsylvania, speaking twice 
in the Free Methodist Church and also 
participated in a conference being con- 
ducted by the Christian and Missionary 
Alliance in their tabernacle at that place. 

While at New Brighton and Roches- 
ter, Pennsylvania, I consulted with our 
State President and some brethren in ref- 
erence to the holding of the State Con- 
ference. I hope to announce the time 
and place later. By a mistake in my last 
month's report my address in the Sixth 
Holland Reformed Church was credited 
to New York instead of Paterson, New 
Jersey. I note by the papers that the 
Eastern Star ladies of this city are con- 
ducting a series of dances. The "Good 
Killers" is the name of a new lodge said 
to be securing members among Italians 
here. Surely there is need for increased 
investigation by Congress. Does anyone 
know what has become of that investiga- 
tion of the Ku Klux Klan? The people 
who pay the taxes to provide payment 
for such investigations surely should 
know of their finding. Conditions are 
bad. The world cries for light. The 
Bible tells us "that which doth make 
manifest is light." Jesus was God man- 
ifest ! Let us seek His light that we 
may walk therein. 



ORDER OF HUMILITY AND PERFEC- 
TION. 

The annual session of the Oriental Or- 
der of Humility and Perfection was held 
at Cleveland, August 11-14. This new- 
order is to Oddfellowship what the 
Shrine is to Consistory Masons and the 
Grotto to the — er decent Masons. It is 
a play ground. — The Kablgram. 



OUR VIEW OF THE LODGE. 
United Brethren Church (Old Constitution). 

We do not believe in the lodge be- 
cause — 

It has obligations that it requires its 
members to take which others are not 
supposed to know. 

Many of the lodges, if not all. are un- 
christian in their teachings. 

The lodge shuts itself away from the 
public and thus secretly can do things, 
not necessarily wrong, but in case they 



r 



254 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



December, 1921. 



are wrong, are without the check of pub- 
lic opinion. 

'While we object decisively to the lodge 
on these and other grounds, we do not 
hold church members belonging thereto 
as unchristian, for we allow a good deal 
to ignorance. 

These principles are recognized by the 
United Brethren Church (old constitu- 
tion) and therefore it does not take 
members into the church who are mem- 
bers of secret lodges; and if any join a 
lodge after becoming a member, their 
act, without trial, automatically removes 
them from the church. 

Under stringent regulations of this 
character the church has a membership 
of over 20,000 cut clean from all en- 
tangling lodge alliances. 

The church preaches against the prin- 
ciples and workings of the lodge, but its 
main weapon is the Gospel transferred 
into the lives of its members. The Gos- 
pel is the panacea for all wrong; it is 
the glorious fulfillment of long expecta- 
tions past ; it is the sword of the spirit 
to hew and destroy the evil of this world. 

When men have the spirit of the Gos- 
pel in their hearts, their lives may be 
brightened into such splendor that the 
lodge will wane and dim their view and 
fall off as a worn out garment. This is 
the Holy Spirit's doings. 

We accord to all the right to follow 
the light of their own conscience and 
we joy in following the narrow wav, as 
we see it. One thing is certain : religion 
cannot stand on a basis of expediency, 
but must be firmly set on a foundation 
of right. W. H. Davis. 

Wheaton, Illinois. 



SALVATION ARMY STRONG FOR 
ELKS. 

At the annual convention of the Elks 
in Los Angeles in July representatives 
of the Salvation Army were given a place 
of honor, their banner linking with those 
of the Elks as pals in philanthropy. 



EXPERIENCES WITH THE MASONS. 

BY J. T. CULLOR, SABINAL, TEXAS. 

Dear friends of the National Conven- 
tion: 
Greeting! I sympathize with you my 
brethren in your meeting and the great 
work before you. 



My father took the Christian Cyno- 
sure in its early days — likely over fifty 
years ago. I say that I "sympathize." I 
do ! I can picture looking into your faces 
— not those of forty years ago — pioneers 
in a new reform movement — but new 
friends and co-workers who are follow- 
ing in the footsteps of our forefathers. 

When I recall the experiences my 
father had I think of Ezekial 8:8, "Dig 
now in the wall." When my father first 
began to dig into the hidden things of 
Masonry they — the Masons — began to 
show fight which of course was natural. 
Their weapons were such as they had — 
lying, backbiting and persecutions of all 
kinds. When our cattle died the Masons 
were jubilant and during their' slaughter- 
ing season when the cows tongues were 
cut out by , them, it was quietly said 
among the Masons that R. A. Cullor's 
tongue would be treated the same way. 

We saw and knew the evils of the 
lodge, and upon learning that a Wor- 
shipful Master, S. E. Storry of Clar- 
ence, Iowa, had been converted we en- 
gaged his services. He had worked the 
degrees many times in the lodge of 
Masons, but upon his conversion God 
would not accept him without his making 
public all that he had done in secret in 
the lodge. 

We got him to work the degrees pub- 
licly in a hall in Unionville, Missouri, 
which was the county seat, and in sev- 
eral other places. I had read Edmond 
Ronayne's exposure of Masonry and 
found it to be the same as that u c ed by 
S. E. Storry when he publicly initiated 
me. I knew the first three degrees of 
Masonry perfectly and was earnestly 
urged by travelers to go into the lodge at 
Deadwood, South Dakota, while I was 
there, because they said that I was by far 
the brightest Mason of the bunch. 

We should have charity for our 
brethren who have not the light we have 
on the evils of secretism. I believe no 
sanctified person who lives in the whole 
light of God's Word will retain his or 
her position in the lodge. God says, "It 
is even a shame to speak of the things 
that are done of them in secret." God 
does not call a man to work in fellow- 
ship with the Devil to accomplish His 
purposes. When we see a preacher 



December, 1921 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



wearing his lodge pin or giving the lodge 
signs we think we had better be studying 
his Bible in place of acting as a prophet 
of Baal. 

There are only two classes of people 
— the saint and the sinner, the holy peo- 
ple and the wicked people. As long as 
the devil can have it declared from the 
pulpit that "we cannot live without sin- 
ning" it pleases him, for that makes an 
easy pull for the lodge. God's people 
are not the worldlings but the saints, and 
if any of you ministers are claiming to 
be living in sin then you are only a cat's 
paw for Satan. You had better read your 
Bible where it says that "all unrighteous- 
ness is sin." We know that whosoever 
is born of God sinneth not, and again 
that "he that committeth sin is of the 
Devil, for the Devil sinneth from the be- 
ginning, but whosoever is born of God 
doth not commit sin ; for his seed re- 
maineth in him and he cannot sin because 
he is born of God." 

Pray mightily for the sanctifying — the 
setting apart power of God — that you 
may be a light in the darkness. This is 
my prayer for you all. 



SOUTHERN AGENT'S REPORT. 

REV. F. J. DAVIDSON. 

I have put in a very busy month since 
my last report. I have visited and lec- 
tured at the following places, Bunkie 
Baptist Academy, Bunkie, Louisiana 
There are more than one hundred stu- 
dents enrolled. I spoke to them twenty- 
five minutes. Professor White highly 
complimented the address and urged the 
students to take the advice given. 

I next visited the Central Louisiana 
Baptist Academy, Alexandria, Louisiana, 
where three hundred students are en- 
rolled ; and I also visited the public high 
school. Five hundred fifty students and 
eight teachers were doing a very com- 
mendable work. I also visited Peabody 
School where I found 598 students. 

I preached on Sabbath and lectured to 
large congregations at Pleasant Hill Bap- 
tist Church, Leesville, Louisiana, where 
I once was pastor. I visited the public 
school and lectured to students out of the 
Word. I next visited De Ridder, Louisi- 
ana, lectured at the Baptist Church and 
lectured at the school with four hundred 
students and eight teachers. I then 



visited Starlight Baptist Church where I 
was privileged to speak to them. I next 
went to Oakdale, Louisiana, where I with 
Rev. H. L. Davis of Bayou Goula, 
Louisiana, witnessed the first anniversary 
services of Pastor Rev. J. H. Hawkins, 
where I met a very large congregation of 
practically young people of from five to 
thirty years of age. I was permitted to 
speak ten minutes ; then two young 
women stepped up in the pulpit and 
placed a "Kings Crown" on the head of 
Rev. Hawkins. Rev. A. L. Davis 
preached a powerful sermon from the 
text, "God will send his angel before 
thee." He did not fail to warn the people 
to cleave to the right and serve the Lord 
acceptably and break down false altars. 

I next went to Woodworth, Louisiana, 
where I preached at New Pilgrim Bap- 
tist Church and to Mount Olive Baptist 
Church. I found secret societies strong 
and growing at each place but I preached 
the Word and secured a few Cynosure 
readers at each place and a small dona- 
tion. Rev. W. C. McCraw of Leesville 
and Rev. S. Hurd of Woodworth, they 
both received me kindly and cordially in- 
vited me to preach to their people. Rev. 
Mr. Hurd is an ex-Mason but he became 
disgusted at their fearful oaths and left 
them more than twenty years ago. Rev. 
Mr. McGraw is a Mason and has not 
seen their folly yet but he endorsed the 
truth I preached to his congregation. 

I find work scarce, wages falling, liv- 
ing high and a general complaint of hard 
times. Church collections are small but 
despite these facts new lodges are spring- 
ing up and flourishing. 

I find many open doors and opportu- 
nities to do good. I also visited the pub- 
lic school at Woodworth where were no 
students and a number of them young 
men and young women. I delivered an 
address to them on "Duty" which was 
enthusiastically applauded by the stu- 
dents and strongly endorsed by Prof. 
Long. If my people could be induced to 
see the extravagance and sinfulness of 
the secret lodges, the next decade would 
find Negroes all over the country com- 
petitors and leaders in every avenue. 

I paid a visit to Lampton College. Dr. 
Campbell, the president, endorsed onr 
work and ordered the Cvnosure. 



CHRISTIAN WORKERS' TRACTS 



MASONIC OBLIGATIONS. 

Blue Lodge Oaths (Illinois WorK> ; Masonic 
Penalties; Are Masonic Penalty Ever Enforced! 
Masonic Arrogance ; Masonic Despotism ; Grand 
Lodge Powers ; Disloyalty to Country ; Our Re- 
sponsibility as Christians; What Can Be Done! 
16 pages. Postpaid, 5 cents a copy; a package 
of 12 for 30 cents. 

THE OPEN CONFESSION 

By Rev. Dr. James M. Gray, Dean of The 
Moody Bible Institute. An address on the rela- 
tion of the Christian, and especially the Chris- 
tian minister, to the secret oath-bound lodge. 
16 pages; postpaid, 5 cents a copy. A package 
of 12 for 30 cents. 

MY REASONS 

For Not Joining the Masonic Fraternity, by 
Rev. R. A. Torrey, D. D., Dean of the Bible 
Institute of Los Angeles. 4 pages; postpaid, 3 
copies for 5 cents. A package of 25 for 25 cents. 

LODGE BURIAL SERVICES. 

Should a Christian Participate in Them? 4 
pages; postpaid, 3 copies for 5 cents. A pack- 
age of 25 for 25 cents. 

THE "GOOD MAN " ARGUMENT. 

God's Word or the Ofher Man's Conscience— 
Which Should We Follow? 4 pages; postpaid, 3 
copies for 5 cents. A package of 25 for 25 cents. 

LODGE RELIGION. 

The Fundamental Doctrine, the "Universal 
Fatherhood of God," Discussed and Refuted. 4 
pages; postpaid, 3 copies for 5c. A package of 
25 for 25 cents. 

EXPERIENCE OF STEPHEN MERRITT, 
THE EVANGELIST. 

A 138 degree Mason. 7 pages; postpaid, 5 
cents a copy. A package of 12 for 30 cents. 

CATECHISM OF ODDFELLOWSHIP. 

What is Oddfellowship? Ought Christians to 
Perform Acts of Beneficence and Charity as Odd- 
fellows? Rebekah Lodge. By Rev. H. H. Hin- 
man. 8 pages; postpaid, 5 cents a copy. A pack- 
age of 12 for 30 cents. 

ARE INSURANCE LODGES CHRISTIAN? 

The Modern Woodmen of America an illustra- 
tion. 4 pages; postpaid, 3 copies for 5c. A 
package of 25 for 25 cents. 

BAPTIST TESTIMONIES. 

From Rev. P. S. Henson, D. D., Rev. A. & 
Gordon, D. D., Rev. Nathaniel Colver, D. D., and 
others. 8 pages; postpaid, 5 cents a copy. A 
package of 12 for 30 cents. 

PATRIOT AND THE LODGE. 

By Pr^s. C. A. Blanchard. From a patriotic 
address delivered at Waterloo, Iowa, July 4, 
1912. 16 pages; postpaid, 5 cents a copy; a 
package of 12 for 30 cents. 

COLLEGE FRATERNITIES. 

Consisting of testimonies of prominent edu- 
cators and writers, on the fraternity Question. 
8 pages; postpaid, 5 cents a copy. A package of 
12 for 30 cents. 
FOR WOMEN WHO THINK 

A paper on Women's Lodges, including col- 
lege societies, female Masonry, female Oddfel- 
lowship and the minor female orders, and show- 
ing the spiritual and moral menace of those or- 
ders. 8 pages; postpaid, 5 cents a copy. A 
package of 12 for 30 cents. 

WHY I LEFT THE REBEKAH LODGE. 

„ By Mrs. Elizabeth M. Ruil. 6 pages; post- 
paid, 5 cents a copy. A package of 12 for 30 
cents. 



PERSONAL WORK: HOW TO SAVE 
CHRISTIANS FROM LODGES. 

By Charles A. Blanchard, D. D., President, 
of Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois. Post- 
paid, 5 cents a copy. 

CHURCH AND LODGE. 

An Address Delivered at Mr. Moody's *'Con= 
far en ©e for Christian Workers," at Northfield, 
Mass., by President Charles A. Blanchard, D. IX 
15 pages; postpaid, 5 cents a copy. A package 
of 12 for 30 cents. 

ODDFELLOWSHIP A RELIGIOUS INSTI- 
TUTION. 

And Rival of the Christian Church. 8 pages; 
postpaid, 5 cents a copy. A package of 12 for 
30 cents. 

WHY I LEFT THE MASONS. 

By Col. Ceorge R. Clarke. A Thirty-two De» 
gree Mason, an officer of the Civil War, founder 
Of "Pacific Garden Mission," Chicago, and a Chris- 
tian Worker of national reputation. 11 pages ; 
postpaid, 5 cents a copy. A package of 12 for 
30 cents. 

GRACIOUSLY DELIVERED. 

From Seven Secret Societies. By Rev. E. G. 
Wellesley-Wesley. 8 pages; postpaid, 5 cents a 
copy. A package of 12 for 30 cents. 

ETHICS OF MARRIAGE AND HOME LIFE. 

Secret Societies in Relation to the Home. By 
Avenue (Moody) Church, Chicago. 8 pages; 
postpaid, 3 copies for 5 cents. A package of 25 
for 25 cents. 

TWO NIGHTS IN A LODGE BOOM. 

Rev. M. L. Haney, a minister and evangelist 
of the Methodist Episcopal church, and a seced- 
ing Mason, tells his experience and states his 
objections to the Lodge. A Christian Lodge Im- 
possible. Is the Lodge a Help or a Hindrance 
to Salvation? 8 pages; postpaid, 5 cents a copy. 
A package of 12 for 30 cents. 

WHY DO MEN REMAIN ODDFELLOWS? 

By Rev. J. Blanchard. 4 pages; postpaid, 3 
copies for 5 cents. A package of 25 for 25 cents. 

OATHS AND PENALTIES OF FREE- 
, MASONRY 

As proved in court in the New Berlin trial. 
Also the letter of Hon. Richard Rush, to the 
Anti-Masonic Committee of York Co., Pa., 
May 4th, 1831. The New Berlin Trials began 
in the attempt of Freemasons to prevent pub- 
lic initiations by seceding Masons. These 
trials were held at New Berlin, Chenango Co., 
N. Y., April 13 and 14, 1831, General Augus- 
tus C. Welsh, Sheriff of the County, and oth- 
er adhering Freemasons swore to the truth- 
ful revelation of the Oaths and Penalties. 
Single Copy, 10 cents. 



A package containing 12 or more of the above 
tracts will be sent, postpaid, for 30 cents. 



NATIONAL CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION 
850 W. Madison St CHICAGO, ILL 




VOL. LIV. 



CHICAGO, JANUARY, Y)22. 





■ 



BENJAMIN MALVIN HOLT, 

EX-SECRETARY OF PIERSOX LODGE NO. 169, 
A. F. & A. M., BARNESVILLE, MINNESOTA. 




OFFICIAL ORGAN, NATIONAL CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION 
15 CENTS A COPY ESTABLISHED 1868. $1.50 A YEAR 



fj 



VOL. LIV. No. 9. 



CHICAGO. 



JANUARY, 192 



?> 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 

Published Monthly by the National Christian 
Association. 



WM. I. PHILLIPS 

850 West Madison Street, Chicago. 

Managing Editor. 

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PRESENTATION COPIES— Many persons sub- 
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piration, and to send no bill for the ensuing 
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BUSINESS LETTERS should be addressed to 
Wm. I. Phillips, Gen. Secy., at the above ad- 
dress. 

Entered as Second-class matter May 19, 1897, 
lit the Post Office at Chicago, 111., under Act of 
Vlarca S. 1879. 



Are These Secret Societies : Families, 

Churches, Juries ? 278 

The Lodge : An Estimate — By Rev. James 

W. Fifield, D. D 279 

The Lord's Prayer — Comments 281 

"Conquest of the Greek Cross" — The 

Christian Conservator 282 

News from Workers : 

Rev. Dr. Osthoff Claims Protection from 

Uncle Sam— By B. M. Holt 282 

When Father Rode the Goat— Poem... 283 
The Two Ways Contrasted — Poem — By 

John S. White ". 283 

An Appreciation — By Rev. A. H. Lea- 
man 284 

Eastern Secretary's Report — By Rev. 

W. B. Stoddard 284 

Lodge Members Not Received in St. 

Mark's German Lutheran Church.... 286 
"Lizzie Woods' Letter" — By Mrs. L. W. 

Roberson 286 

Southern Agent's Report — By Rev. F. J. 

Davidson 286 

Reminiscences — By P. Woodring 287 

Five Things That God Wants You to 
Know 288 



NATIONAL CHRISTIAN ASSOCIA- 
TION. 



CONTENTS 



President, Rev. John F. Heemstra ; 
Vice-President, Rev. Wm. B. Rose. 

Recording Secretary, Mrs. N. E. Kel- 
logg; Secretary-Treasurer, Wm. I. 
Phillips. 

Page _ 

Photograph, Benjamin Malvin Holt Cover Tj nApn nT7 nTPTTPTncc 

Royal Order of Fleas 259 BOARD OF DIRECTORS. 

K ^ h ^ S .°* An J a ™^ a, Major Degree of Walter Wietzke, A. W. SafTord, G.' W. 

the Knights of Columbus — Chicago Daily ' 

Tribune 259 Hylkema, Wm. P. Ferries, J. R. Shaf - 

The Supreme Owl Caged. . ....... 259 fer q W . Bond M R F> Doermann, 

Changes in the Ritual — The Modem !__ _ ': ■ - 

Woodmen 259 A. H. Leaman, C. A. Blanchard, George 

Go ^f r % th z e Countr y' s Menace— CWcasro Slagei- and Thos. C. McKnight. 

Daily Tribune 259 & 

Mystic Shrine Thanksgiving 259 

Imitating White Brothers — The Denver _ „„-,„„„„„ 

Post 260 LECTURERS. 

The Fathers Both Masons — The Denver r^, , . . . , ,. 

Post 260 Those desiring lectures or addresses 

The Lodge of the Junior Conquerors 260 may write to any of the speakers named 

Jesus in "Morals and Dogma" 261 , i 

"Frats" Arrested— New York Herald 262 Delow : 

One Religious Lodge. The Knights of Rev W# B . Stoddard, Box 04, East 

Pythias Considered in the Light of Holy . . ^ 

Scripture— By Rev. John F. Heemstra.. 262 rails Church, Virginia 

Photograph, Rev. John F. Heemstra 263 -d a j tv/t a \\t: 

Cartoon-The Devil Fish 269 Rev - Adam Murrman, Arena, Wis. 

Christ Jesus in the Bible and in Masonry- R ev p. J. Davidson, 927 St. Maurice 

By B. M. Holt 270 . ■*,'••<« 

Elkdom Grand Lodge— California Mis- Ave., New Orleans, La. 

sionary 272 , T T . . x __ _ , nr ~ , 

The National Christian Association— Its Mrs. Lizzie W. Roberson, 2864 Corby 

Object . . ■•• — •— 273 St., Omaha, Neb. 

The Question of the Hour — By E. E. 

Flagg 274 Pres. C. A. Blanchard, VVheaton, 111 



There is none 
other Name 
under heaven, 
given among 
men, whereby 
we must be 
saved. 

— Acts 4:12 



CHRISTIAN 

CYNOSURE 



Jesu» answerea 
him: I spake 
openly to the 
world, and in 
secret have I 
said nothing. 
— John 18:20 



ROYAL ORDER OF FLEAS. 

One of the social features in connection 
with the union meeting of the fifth dis- 
trict of the New York State Dental So- 
ciety and the Jefferson County Dental 
Society in the Black River Valley Club 
Friday and Saturday is the initiation in 
full form of candidates for the Royal 
Order of Fleas. About 20 candidates 
will be initiated into the Order. The 
dentists will be entertained at the Wood- 
ruff House and in the homes of friends 
in Watertown, N. Y. 



Knights of Alhambra, Major Degree of the 
Knights of Columbus. 
High dignitaries of the Roman Cath- 
olic church from all parts of the United 
States will be in attendance at today's 
session of the national convention of the 
Order of Alhambra, of the major degree 
of the Knights of Columbus, in the Hotel 
La Salle. — Chicago Daily Tribune, Sept. 
2j, 1921. » 



THE SUPREME OWL CAGED. 
Five Years in Leavenworth Pen. 

Indianapolis, Nov. 30. — John Talbot, 
of South Bend, Ind., supreme president 
of the Order of Owls, a fraternal organ- 
ization, who was found guilty in United 
States district court last week of violation 
of the Mann act, today was fined $5,000 
by Judge A. B. Anderson and sentenced 
to Leavenworth prison for five years. 

It was the maximum sentence for the 
offense. 



CHANGES IN THE RITUAL. 

We take the following from The Mod- 
ern Woodmen. The Peoria Head Camp 
voted that the ritual of Modern Wood- 
men of America should be revised. The 
Head Consul appointed a Head Camp 
Ritual Committee for that purpose. On 
November 9th, 192 1, the Committee pre- 
sented a complete ritual here in Chicago 



which was exemplified on Tuesday eve- 
ning by the team from Camp 11471 of 
Ravens wood. The new ritual retains 
much of the old work, which has been 
shortened and simplified. Some new 
scenes have been introduced. The re- 
vised ritual was approved and ordered 
printed by the Executive Council but it 
will not be ready for distribution until 
the first of the year. 



GOMPERS THE COUNTRY'S 
MENACE. 

Thomas L. Blanton, congressman from 
Texas, last night, Dec. 13th, 192 1, en- 
livened the annual banquet of the Illinois 
Manufacturers' association with a spir- 
ited attack on Samuel Gompers, president 
of the American Federation of Labor. 

"The great menace to our country is 
the death throttle hold that Mr. Gompers 
has on the throat of our government. 
W r hen Mr. Mooney, the convicted bomb 
thrower out in California, needed help 
Mr. Gompers gave it to him ; when the 
McNamara brothers, bomb throwers, 
needed help, Mr. Gompers stood behind 
them and raised their defense money, but 
when he saw fit to pick a man to place 
at the head of the great steel strike, hav- 
ing the whole United States to pick from, 
he picked William Z. Foster, writer of 
the ''Red Book on Anarchy." — Chicago 
Daily Tribune, Dec. 14. 192 1. 



MYSTIC SHRINE THANKSGIVING. 
We learn from The Evening Shir. 
Washington, D. C, of November 29th. 
[921, that I 'resident Harding's pastor. 
Rev. W. S. Abernathy, took the "Mos- 
lem's Vow" and in the "holy of holies" 
on the day that this Mystic Shrine cele- 
brated its Thanksgiving ceremonial, No- 
vember 28th, 1921. Among those pres- 
ent were Alonzo G. Hinkley, Associate 
Justice of the Supreme Court of New 
York: James L. Davis. U, S. Assistant 



260 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



January, 1922. 



Secretary of Labor ; Samuel Gompers, 
President of the American Federation of 
Labor ; Gue-Tsai Chao of the Chinese 
legation : Te-Ching Yen, Managing Di- 
rector of the Canton-Hankow Railway, 
and Rev. W. S. Abernathy of the Calvary 
Baptist Church, Washington. 

"What a mixture ! Religiously, what a 
devil's broth were the ceremonies of that 
evening when a Baptist minister took the 
"Moslem's Vow" ! 

"Who have forsaken the right way, 
and are gone astray, following the way 
of Balaam, the son of Bosar, who loved 
the wages of unrighteousness.'' — 2 Peter 
2:1;. 



IMITATING WHITE BROTHERS. 

The following is from The Denver 
Post of December 4th, 192 1 : 

How powerful is example for good 
and evil ? Members of a secret Negro 
lodge of Sioux City, Iowa, thought Sam 
Jones had revealed lodge secrets of over- 
whelming importance. Imitating white 
brethren they decided to lynch Sam, took 
him to a bridge, fastened a rope around 
his neck, threw him over. 

Fortunately the hope broke, Mr. Jones 
landed in ffiree feet of water, and later 
smilingly remarked to a friend : "Luck is 
what I ain't got nothing but." The re- 
port says Sam had taken from one of the 
lynching party ten dollars, not, it is to be 
hoped, from the Rev. Dudley Smith, 
Xegro preacher, arrested and accused of 
helping to lynch. 



THE FATHERS BOTH MASONS. 

Young Man Gives Grand Hailing Sign 

Distress. 

A feminine sprite, in the guise of a 
little blonde, visited Chicago last sum- 
mer, and before she left, there were sev- 
eral easterners at her heels. One, the 
scion of a wealthy Chicagoan, and just 
out of his teens, laid his heart at her feet, 
together with a treasure of limousines and 
worldly goods he was to fall heir to when 
he became of age. 

The lad is afflicted with asthma,. super- 
induced by his love for pleasure, and his 
mother, who believed too, that the west 
produces some admirable girls, asked this 
new object of her son's devotion to use 
her influence in persuading him to stay 



at home evenings, which she did, quite 
innocently. 

"Stay at home until Christmas time," 
were her parting words at the railroad 
station, "and if you are not better by then, 
come out to Denver and let the sunshine 
cure you." 

The lad took his leave of his one and 
only, to pen her love sonnets, which con- 
tinued to swamp the blonde until about 
two weeks ago when in sheer despair she 
sat down to shatter forever the dreams of 
her Chicago soldier. She told him gently 
that she was much older than he and that 
even if she were not, she did not share 
his feelings of affection. 

At which the Chicago man showed his 
colors with a retort addressed to the girl's 
father. It began : "My Dear Sir," and 
declared none too tactfully that his 
daughter had led him on last summer, 
most disgracefully. He wrote that he 
thought it was a dirty trick for a daughter 
of a Mason to fool the son of a Mason, 
and that he thought, as a father, the Den- 
ver man should consider the fraternal 
obligations due his own father and should 
punish his daughter accordingly. He 
signed the letter with his first, middle 
and last name, after a complimentary 
close. — The Denver Post, December 4, 
1921. 



THE LODGE OF THE JUNIOR 
CONQUERORS. 

On the 1st of February, 1920, I an- 
nounced the organization of a Junior So- 
ciety of Christian Endeavor. The night 
was rainy, only six were present. We 
proceeded to adopt our slogan ''From Six 
to Sixty Soon." I proposed we organize 
after the character of a lodge. On Octo- 
ber 31st we were "over the top," having 
61 members. The Lodge of the Junior 
Conquerors is not a secret society, but has 
all the "floor work" of a lodge. There 
are nine degrees, each covering a definite 
portion of Bible history. The degrees 
are: Endeavorer (or Leaguer), Patri- 
arch, Commander, Judge, Ruler, Disciple, 
Ambassador, Herald and Conqueror. 

The first five are in the Old Testament, 
the last four in the New Testament. One 
of the Juniors delivers a lecture to the 
"Candidate" after he has been initiated. 
The lecture covers the Period of the 



Tanuarv, 1922. 



CHRISTIAN CYN( >SURE 



261 



Patriarchs. The Candidate or Endeav- 
orer is then given a list of questions and 
answers based on this lecture, which as 
soon as he has mastered, he is examined 
upon and the degree, Patriarch, is con- 
ferred upon him. 

The sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth de- 
grees have dramatic sections. The sixth 
being The Shepherds of Bethlehem, and 
The Wise Men and Herod. This is a 
Christmas degree and it was given at the 
Christmas program. The ninth degree is 
The Conqueror degree and is an Easter 
scene. If the work is begun in the sum- 
mer or about September 1st, the degrees 
will come right with the seasons. We 
wait until several are ready for these de- 
grees before giving them. 

There are 39 speaking parts, but 12 
boys and girls can take all the parts if 
necessary, as they are short. No trouble 
to get them to take the parts, everybody 
wants one. We have members from 8 
to 14 years of age. Works nicely. There 
is none of "the dear children" stuff. We 
hope to secure 100 by July 1st. I be- 
lieve it will work anywhere, because it 
calls for action. Boys attend better than 



the pass, or visitors having permission 
from the Superintendent." 



girls. 



W. T. Howe. 



The ritual of this lodge which is to take 
the place of the Christian Endeavor, Ep- 
worth League, etc., gives the following 
as the list of officers : 

1. President; 2. Vice-President; 3. Sec- 
retary; 4. Chaplain; 5. Treasurer; 6. 
Senior Attendant ; 7. Junior Attendant ; 8. 
Conductor ; 9. Associate Conductor ; 10. 
Conductress; 11. Doorkeeper; 12. First 
Shepherd; 13. Second Shepherd; 14. 
Third Shepherd; 15. Mary; 16. Ruth: 
17. Esther; 18. Angel; 19. Herod; 20. 
First Wiseman; 21. Second Wiseman; 
22. Third Wiseman ; 23. Attendant ; 24. 
Peter; 25. James; 26. John; 27. The De- 
moniac ; 28. The Leper ; 29. The Man with 
Palsy; 30. Miss Jairus ; 31. Miss Canaan ; 
32. Woman of Samaria ; 33. Elder ; 34. 
Scribe ; 35. Centurion ; 36. First Soldier : 
37. Second Soldier; 38. Mary Magda- 
lene ; 29. Other Mary. 

There seems to be no obligation in con- 
nection with this lodge but we note that 
the President commands the Vice-Presi- 
dent to "instruct the Doorkeeper to ad- 
mit all members that are in possession of 



JESUS IN "MORALS AND DOGMA." 

The Teaching as to Christ Jesus in Scotch 

Rite Masonry. 

"The morals and antiquity, of the law 

of Moses and of Christianity, are our-. 
We recognize every teacher of Morality, 
every Reformer, as a brother in this great 
work." 

'"No one Mason has the right to meas- 
ure for another, within the walls of a 
Masonic Temple the degree of veneration 
which he shall feel for any Reformer, 
or the Founder of any Religion. We 
teach a belief in no particular creed. a> 
we teach unbelief in none." "" Masonry 
reverences all great reformers. It see- 
in Moses the Law-giver of the Jews, in 
Confucius and Zoroaster, in Jesus of 
Nazareth, and in the Arabian Iconcolast. 
great teachers of morality, and Eminent 
Reformers, if no more : and allows every 
brother of the Order to assign to each 
such higher and even divine character as 
his creed and truth require." 

"Masonry propagates no creed except 
its own most simple and Sublime One : 
that universal religion, taught by Nature 
and by Reason. Its Lodges are neither 
Jewish, Moslem, nor Christian Temples. 
It reiterates the precepts of morality of 
all religions. It venerates the character 
and commends the teachings of the great 
and good of all ages and of all countries. 
It extracts the good and not the evil, the 
truth, and not the error, from all creeds ; 
and acknowledges that there is much 
which is good and true in all." 

"Jesus of Nazareth, the 'Son of Man/ 
is the expounder of the new law of love." 
"He bequeathed His teachings to man 
as an inestimable inheritance." "We here 
teach them in their purity. They are our 
Masonry; for to them good men of all 
creeds can subscribe." Jesus whether 
"Divine or human, inspired or only a re- 
forming Essene. it must lie agreed that 
His teachings are far nobler, tar purer. 
far less alloyed with error and imperfec- 
tion, far less of the earth earthly, than 
those of Socrates. Plato. Seneca, or Mo- 
hamet, or any other of the great morahst> 
and Reformers of the world." "Every 
true Knight of the Rose Croix will 
revere the memory of Him who taught it. 



262 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



January, 1922. 



and look indulgently even on those who 
assign to Him a character far above 
His own conceptions or belief, even to 
the extent of deeming Him Divine." — 
Extracts from "Morals and Dogma' 
of the Ancient and Accepted Scot- 
tish Rite of Freemasonry, -prepared 
tor the Supreme Council of the Thirty- 
third degree for the Southern Jurisdic- 
tion of United States and published by 
its authority. Author and compiler, Al- 
bert Pike. Past Most Puissant Sovereign 
Grand Commander, ?J°. Edition 1874, 
pages 308, no, 525, 718 and 719. 

This author and compiler of "Morals 
and Dogma," Albert Pike, was a son of 
New England; joined the southern con- 
federacy to found, in the words of A. H. 
Stevens, its Vice-President, an Empire 
whose corner-stone was to be slavery. 
He obtained by fraud and falsehood from 
the U. S. Treasury money voted to the 
Indians to school their children ; initiated 
some fifty Cherokees and Choctaws in 
Federal Lodge, No. 1, at Washington; 
armed a brigade of them, and scalped 
the wounded Union soldiers in the battle 
of Pea Ridge (Civil War). This is the 
man who lauds the morality taught by 
Christ, whom he puts on a level with the 
founders of the false religions, which 
have filled the dark places of the earth 
with "the habitations of cruelty." — J. B. 



ONE RELIGIOUS LODGE. 



The Knights of Pythias Considered in the 
Light of Holy Scripture. 



"FRATS" ARRESTED. 

Five Columbia University freshmen 
being initiated into Phi Kappa Psi fra- 
ternity were abandoned without money 
by their initiators late Wednesday night 
at Syosset, L. I., with injunctions to re- 
turn to the university within a day. They 
had started to walk to Manhattan. 

In trying to get to Jamaica, twelve 
miles away, where they could board the 
B. R. T. subway, they borrowed [stole] 
an automobile. In Jamaica, they were 
arrested on the steps of the elevated sta- 
tion by a policeman, who had been watch- 
ing for a motor car reported stolen from 
Lieut. Burton Van Duzer of the Nassau 
county police. — New York Herald, Oct. 
21, 192 1. 



As Jesus was in "the days of His 
flesh," so is the God with whom we have 
to do, in character and purpose. 



BY REV. JOHN F. HEEMSTRA, HOLLAND, 
MICHIGAN. 

The Knights of Pythias is a secret 
oath-bound order organized at Washing- 
ton, D. C, on February 23, 1864. Mr. 
J. H. Rathbone was principally instru- 
mental in starting the order. It was he 
who had already, prior to the first meet- 
ing of those who favored the venture, 
prepared a ritual which was immediately 
adopted, and later some revision was 
made and new matter added also under 
his supervision. It has the earmarks of 
being a child of Freemasonry, as is the 
case with all lesser lodges. Among those 
distinguishing marks may be noted that it 
has three ranks corresponding in number 
to the three degrees of Blue Lodge Ma- 
sonry ; it has also an altar with the Bible 
which is called the "Book of the Law," 
the same term with which Masonry desig- 
nates the Bible. Furthermore, it has 
swords placed on the Bible the same as 
Freemasonry covers the Bible with the 
square and compass. 

This paper proposes to discuss the 
Knights of Pythias from the viewpoint of 
its claims, its attitude toward Christian- 
ity and its use of the oath. 

Its Claims. 

The Knights of Pythias order boasts of 
high ideals, as all lodges do, and which is 
commonly expressed by its adherents in 
saying that when people live up to the 
ideals of the lodge they are well nigh per- 
fect. They boast first of all of their 
friendship. This is said to be "the cor- 
nerstone of the order and its members are 
sworn to exercise it toward each other." 
(Page 31*.) 

Their teaching of friendship is sup- 
posed to be based on the legendary story 
of Damon and Pythias. The author of 
the ritual has made a mistake in trans- 
posing the characters, since it was not 
Damon who was condemned to die and 
for whom Pythias became surety, but just 
the reverse. 

The second rank is supposed to teach 

*References are to Ritual of the Knights of 
Pythias adopted by Supreme Lodge. 



January, 1922. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



263 



the virtue of caution. The initiating cere- 
monies passed through, however, clearly 
show that the caution which is meant is 
with reference to keeping inviolate the 
secrets that are transmitted and which 
are nonsensical, to say the least. How- 




JOHN F. HEEMSTRA. 

ever, the language used in addressing the 
candidate passing to this rank is even 
more boastful as to the wonderful vir- 
tues which the lodge is supposed to teach 
and practice. It is said : ''Especially to 
young men should this order be a defense 
against every evil and keep them perfect 
in their manhood. "-(Page 38.) The read- 
er is asked to compare this declaration 
with the following statements from the 
Bible : "Wherewithal shall a young man 
cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto 
according to thy Word," (Psalm 119:9), 
and "I have written unto you, fathers, 
because ye have known Him that is from 
the beginning. I have written unto you, 
young men, becauSe ye are strong and the 
Word of God abideth in you, and ye have 
overcome the wicked one" (I John 2:14). 
On page forty of the ritual it is said that 
the Order gives one a grander view of 
life, a more extended conception of its 
duties and responsibilities and "you may 



fully realize that our Order has but one 
purpose, one result : the elevation, the 
happiness, the betterment of mankind." 
What presumption and what a pity that 
this order was born as late as 1864! 

Tn the third rank this boasting of virtue 
becomes even more apparent and disgust- 
ing. This rank is supposed to teach 
bravery (this being the motto word of 
trie rank), because the knight of old was 
supposed to have bravery as his highest 
virtue. But this bravery is supposed to 
be exemplified in deeds of love and 
bravery ( of course toward lodge mem- 
bers), and hence this laguage is used: 
"The fame of our illustrious Order has 
been read from sea to sea, not so much 
by deeds of valor and high enterprise as 
by unobtrusive acts of love and tender 
sympathy" (Page 53). Indeed! It re- 
minds one of the man who undertook to 
shear his pig and observed that there was 
much noise but little wool. Viewing this 
boasting in the light of Scripture we note 
such passages as these : ''Be clothed with 
humility — God resisteth the proud but 
giveth grace to the humble" (I Peter 
5:5). "Put on therefore as the elect of 
God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, 
kindness, humbleness of mind" (Col. 
3:12). "I therefore beseech you that ye 
walk in all lowliness of mind and meek- 
ness" (Eph. 4:1, 2). "Learn of Me for 
I am meek and lowly in heart" (Matt. 
11:29). "The sacrifices of God are a 
broken spirit ; a broken and a contrite 
heart, O God, thou wilt not despise (Ps. 
51 :ig). ''What doth the Lord require of 
thee but to do justly and to love mercy 
and walk humbly with thy God" (Micah 
6:8). "Boasting then is excluded. By 
what law of works? Nay; but by the 
low of faith" (Romans 3 :2j). "This know 
also that in the last days perilous times 
shall come. For men shall be lovers of 
their own selves, covetous, boasters, 
proud" (2 Tim. 3:1, 2). Compare with 
this also the parable of the rich man and 
Lazarus and many other passages that 
might be cited. 

A Mutual Admiration Society. 

There is indeed no cause for this boast- 
ing of their virtues on the part of the 
Knights of Pythias. Everybody knows 
that they are not a whit better than the 
average person. And why do thev make 



264 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



lain 



1922. 



such assertions as to teaching these great 
virtues? Were these virtues not taught 
before? They were, and much more 
strongly in the Bible than from the legend 
of Damon and Pythias. One need not 
become a Knight of Pythias to learn 
these things, neither are they thus learned. 
The whole thing is a camouflage. What 
the Knights of Pythias, as all lodges, 
really teach is the exercise of some sup- 
posed and highly extolled virtues toward 
each other. Every lodge is a mutual ad- 
miration society respecting this matter of 
their virtues, and they aim to do each 
other good turns at the expense of those 
who are not members. Their fraternal 
spirit is "organized selfishness." 

Theirs a Universal Religion. 

We consider next the attitude of the 
Knights of Pythias lodge toward the 
Christian religion. They claim to have no 
religious purpose. The candidate for the 
first rank is told : "As an order we do not 
seek to shape your creed, but we ask you 
to exercise your power for good." Also 
in the anteroom he is asked whether he 
is willing to take an obligation that will 
in no wise conflict with his creed or his 
conscience. But this depends on what his 
creed is and what is the state of his con- 
science. The lodge does have religious 
pretentions notwithstanding their dis- 
avowel. They have a prelate (chaplain), 
an altar, prayers, a creed (belief in a Su- 
preme Being and a future life) and they 
keep a Bible in the lodge room. This or- 
der is not so decidedly religious in its 
ritual and in its teachings as is Masonry, 
yet there is enough to shew that it stands 
for a universal religion, i. e., a religion 
that all are supposed to assent to regard- 
less of creed. 

Just here, however, a fatal mistake 
i.^ made because those who framed 
its ritual were ignorant as to the posi- 
tion of true religion, i. e., of Christian 
faith. The Knights of Pythias use the 
Bible calling it the "Book of the Law" 
just like Masonry does and of which Ma- 
sonry says that "It is that volume which 
by the religion of the country is believed 
to contain the revealed will of the Grand 
Architect of the universe" (Mackey's 
Jurisprudence, page 33). This, of course, 
can be anything according to the religion 
of the land— for example, the Koran 



among the Mohammedans and The Book 
of Mormon among the Mormons. This 
is evidently the way in which the Knights 
of Pythias regard the Bible. It is merely 
a piece of furniture in the lodge room. 
They call it the "book of the law," but 
ignore what it contains altogether. Sev- 
eral times in their ritual reference is made 
to the supposedly valuable teaching of the 
Greek legend of Damon and Pythias, but 
not once is there any reference to the 
teaching of the Bible. It is with them of 
less account than the swords which are 
placed over it. These are said to have a 
symbolical meaning, but there is no refer- 
ence by a single word to what the "Book 
of the Law" is to them — in other words, 
it has no meaning at all. 

The Bible is there because people rev- 
erence it. If it were not for that they 
could easily dispense with it. The Bible 
is in their lodge room only for policy 
sake. And perhaps this is just as well, 
for if they did use it and refer to its 
teachings, they would pervert these al- 
together. For instance, according to 
the ritual, where the Monitor, sup- 
posed to be a spirit, is represented as 
speaking to the candidate for the third 
rank while he is seated in a pitch dark 
room — the Monitor says: "The darkness 
which surrounds you is symbolic of life. 
Man sits in gloom, and the purpose of this 
existence is a mystery." How dare they 
say that "the purpose of man's existence 
is a mystery" when there is a Bible in the 
lodge room which reveals man's purpose? 

The Knights of Pythias lodge requires 
belief in a Supreme Being, but this of 
course is done to have a biisis for their 
oath, which they do not regard as sacred 
but merely as a convenient and the best 
known way of binding people to obliga- 
tions that they wish to lay on them. 
Christ, as might be surmised, is utterly 
ignored. The religion that the lodge has 
is Christless. This appears most strongly 
in the prescribed prayers that are used 
and in what the lodge teaches about the 
future life and the hope that its members 
may have for the hereafter. 

No Sin; No Repentance. 

As to the prayers, these are Christless, 

as is generally the case in lodges. The 

Knights of Pythias do not make much of 

prayer (not so much as do the Masons 




January, 1922. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



26: 



and the Odd-Fellows) but they "have them 
at the opening and the closing of the lodge 
meeting; but without Christ, and conse- 
quently without any reference to sin, re- 
pentance, faith, regeneration, grace and 
the new life. So also is the Holy Spirit 
utterly passed by. On page 43 of their 
ritual the three degrees of ranks are 
spoken of as "our glorious trinity."' The 
prayers of the order breathe self-right- 
eousness and self-complacency, consisted 
with the whole tenor of the ritual. At the 
close of the lodge meeting, after they have 
gone through the clap-trap nonsense of 
their initiation "work" and have been en- 
gaged in utter disregard of the will of 
God expressed in the Book of the Law 
on their altar and placed under their 
make believe knightly swords, they have 
the sacrilegious audacity to ask the bless- 
ing of the Heavenly Father on the events 
of the evening and that He will keep them 
and finally permit them to be with Him 
to share the blessings of eternal life. And 
that all in the face of what the Book of 
the Law teaches : "He that honoreth not 
the Son, honoreth not the Father which 
sent Him" (John 5:23). "I am the way. 
the truth and the life! no man cometh 
unto the Father but by Me" (John 14:6). 
"If ye believe not that I am He, ye shall 
die in your sins" (John 8:24). "He that 
believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, 
but he that believeth not the Son shall not 
see life, but the wrath of God abideth on 
him" (John 3:36). "He that hath the 
Son hath life; and he that hath not the 
Son of God hath not life" (I John 5 :i2). 
Future. Hope Based on Good Lodge 
Standing. 

Concerning the hope for the future the 
Knights of Pythias teach that this rests 
on their own good works. Tt should be 
noted that their conception of good works 
is chiefly concerned with being a good 
lodge member by keeping up the clues, 
maintaining the oath of secrecy inviolate, 
and doing good turns to fellow lodge 
members. We note these unequivocal 
statements from their ritual : "So live 
that when you come to the river that 
marks the unknown shore your hands 
may be filled with deeds of charity, the 
golden keys that opened the palace of 
eternity" (page 31), and 

Do noble things, not dream them all day long. 
And so make life, death and that vast forever 
One grand sweet song. (Page 38.) 



Sin is excused with these words: 
"What to your dim eyes may seem a 
stain, in God's clear vision may prove a 
scar, won in some hard- fought field" 
(page 44). The third rank candidate, 
after being exhorted to Knights of 
Pythias' virtues, is told. "And when the 
western hills obscure life's sun. may you 
sleep secure in the promise of the dawn 
of a never ending day" (page 71). The 
salvation by works which is taught may 
not be contrary to the creed of some who 
profess Christianity, but it is absolutely 
hostile to true faith. And this is a grave 
danger in lodge affiliation, it leads away 
from the cross of Christ and makes peo- 
ple secure in a false hope in which they 
shall perish forever. 
Implcit Obedience to Aib : trary Despotism. 

There remains yet to consider the use 
that the Knights of Pythias make of the 
oath. In this the Order is more sane than 
the Masons as their oaths do not contain 
the horrible penalties which are found in 
the oaths of Masonry and which makes 
these so revolting to the Christian con- 
science. Yet in principle their oaths are 
of the same import. They solemnly 
promise calling upon the witness and help 
of Deity, to keep inviolate the secrets and 
to perform the lodge duties laid upon 
them. These oaths, of course, are un- 
scriptural. According to the Bible no 
such organization as the lodge has the 
right to require an oath. Only the magis- 
trate of God, the regularly constituted 
governmental authority, which is the min- 
ister of God, has the right to do this. The 
use of the oath in the lodge is an abuse of 
the sacredness thereof. The reason why 
it is employed is that it presumes to make 
inviolate the obligation to secrecy and 
constancy on the part of the members. 

The lodge needs the absolute obedience 
of its members. Obedience is the corner 
<tone of all lodges ; if it were not for this, 
they could not continue, ft is so asserted 
in the Knights of Pythias ritual. The 
candidate for the first rank is asked what 
may be expected of him. and his answer 
is (prompted by the Master at Arms), 
"obedience" (page 23). Strange that 
men. otherwise insistent on the privilege 
of the free institutions under which thev 
live and so hostile to despotism, should be 
willing to swear away their freedom and 
yield implicit obedience to arbitrary lodge 



266 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



January, 1922. 



despotism. How is it to be explained? 
The explanation must evidently be found 
in that they are led to believe that great 
honors are bestowed on them and great 
advantages are to be gained from thus 
becoming the puppets of others. 

The Oath at Conflict With Creed, Con- 
science, and Home Duties. 

Again the taking of the lodge oath is 
contrary to the Bible because, the person 
swears in advance of things that he does 
not know. It is false swearing — in prin- 
ciple it is perjury. He swears to keep 
things secret without knowing the nature 
of these secrets ; and to do things without 
knowing what will be required of him. 
True, he is assured that these secrets and 
duties will not conflict with this creed and 
conscience, but that is simply asserted ac- 
cording to the thoughtless judgment of 
another. Certainly a person himself ought 
to be the judge of. what conflicts or is in 
harmony with his creed or conscience 
after he has gained knowledge of matters 
in question. How can another assert that 
a thing does not conflict with my creed 
and conscience, unless he presumes to 
lord it also over iny creed and conscience. 
It is just the purpose of the lodge to do 
this in such a subtle way that the person 
himself doesn't realize it. Creed and con- 
science are things of no or very trifling 
significance in lodgedom. 

It is also asserted that the oath does not 
conflict with one's duty to his home and 
his loved ones (page 26). That carries a 
lie on its very face. Prudence may dic- 
tate that a husband should conceal certain 
things from his wife for the time being 
(such a thing, of course, is exceptional in 
marital relations that are anything like 
ideal), but for a husband to swear that 
he will forever keep secret from his wife 
things that he sees and hears and is re- 
quired to do in the lodge room and by the 
lodge, and that before he even knows 
what these things are, is absolutely in con- 
flict with his duty to her without whom 
his home would be no home. 

Turning to the pages of Holy Writ we 
observe the clear statements which con- 
demn the lodge oath. "It is a snare to a 
man rashly to utter holy words, and after 
vows to make inquiry" (Prov. 20: 25. 
R. V.). "If a soul swear, pronouncing 
with his lips to do evil or to do good, 
whatsoever it be that a man shall pro- 



nounce with an oath, and it be hid from 
him, when he knoweth of it then he shall 
be guilty in one of these. And it shall be, 
when he shall be guilty in one of these 
things, that he shall confess that he hath 
sinned in that thing" (Lev. 5 14-5). 

The Knights of Pythias has four oaths, 
one for each rank or degree and a special 
oath laid on the third or Knight Rank to 
keep secret the semi-annual password. 
Foresworn Obedience the Key. 

In the first or Page Rank the oath is 
taken by the candidate kneeling before an 
open coffin containing a skeleton, with his 
left hand over his heart and his right hand 
resting on the book of the law and swords 
laid on the coffin. This oath, besides 
swearing to secrecy with respect to pass- 
words, signs, grips and the "work" of 
initiation, is intended to give special em- 
phasis to obedience. He is assured that 
the motto word of this rank is friend- 
ship, but that this friendship is to be 
realized through obedience. For that rea- 
son the oath is taken the way it is. The 
prelate or chaplain, who administers the 
oath, tells him that justice requires that 
he shall be in full possession of all his 
faculties in so solemn an act, and there- 
fore the hoodwink is removed from his 
eyes. Every one realizes that this is not 
done for the sake of justice, for that has 
already been trodden under foot in that 
he is required and has consented to swear 
to things of which he has no knowledge; 
but the real purpose of removing the 
hoodwink is that he may take the oath 
while gazing upon the skeleton in the 
coffin, in order that he may be the more 
impressed with his duty to obedience. 
After he has taken his oath the prelate 
says : "Stranger, by this vow you are 
bound until death." And all present re- 
spond in concert, "Even until death." And 
so the Knights of Pythias take the same 
stand as do the Masons : once a Knight of 
Pythias always a Knight of Pythias ; and 
even should his connection with the lodge 
outwardly be severed, his oath he is still 
to consider as binding. 

The oath of the second rank of Esquire 
is not attended with anything so gruesome 
as a skeleton in a coffin. It is taken in 
a standing position, with the left hand 
over the heart, and the right hand raised 
with fist clinched as if to strike a blow. 
In addition to the obligation to secrecy in 




1922. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



267 



other matters as in the first rank the can- 
didate specially promises that he will not 
commit to writing any secret work, nor 
permit others to do so if he can pre- 
vent it. 

After he has taken the oath he is told 
that the motto word for this rank is cau- 
tion. This caution has reference, of 
course, to the wonderful ( !) secrets of 
the Order, and having been lectured on 
this matter of caution, he is unwittingly 
put to the test. The Keeper of Records 
and Seal leads him to his desk and asks 
him to fill in a blank calling for name, 
age, place of residence, occupation, and 
lastly the motto word. If he refuses to 
write the motto word he is praised very 
highly for his exhibition of caution ; but 
if he undertakes to write the motto word 
(which happens, of course, in most cases) 
he is severely taken to task and threat- 
ened with expulsion. Finally after some 
cavilling the matter is adjusted. This is 
supposed to teach him a lesson. The prin- 
cipal lesson that he should learn from it 
is the trickery that he may expect from 
his fellow lodge members. 

Seceders Defamed. 

Another peculiarity about the oath of 
this rank is that it indirectly, in a covered 
way, obligates him to defame seceders 
from the lodge. He swears that he will 
''guard the good name of a member of 
this or any other rank and that he will 
not speak ill of him until he is satisfied 
by careful investigation that he has dis- 
regarded his obligation/' This indicates 
what such may expect who withdraw 
from the order after they have discov- 
ered that their creed and conscience were 
indeed abused. The good name of such a 
person need no longer be regarded and it 
is by inference the duty of a Knight of 
Pythias to speak ill of him. In order to 
make this a little less glaring it is added 
that the same may be done with respect 
to those who violate the laws of the land 
or become guilty of conduct unbecoming 
a gentleman. Let it be observed, how- 
ever, that if it were done in the case of 
the two last named classes, these Knights 
of Pythias would be very busy with de- 
faming others and would continually be 
respondents in libel suits. 

Horseplay "Bravery,'* 

The oath of the third rank, of Knight, 
the highest rank in the Order, is also 



taken in a standing position, with the left 
hand over the heart and the right hand 
grasping a sword lying on the Book of 
the Law on the altar. It is also attended 
with a test of bravery. Bravery is the 
motto word of the third rank. Before 
taking the oath the candidate is asked if 
he is ready to submit to a test such as 
they may see fit to impose. Ten men, 
called senators, make a pretense of de- 
ciding what the test shall be. After some 
discussion the vote is taken and the de- 
cision is seen to be for the test of steel. 
The candidate must jump from the top of 
a stepladder of three treads representing 
the three ranks of the Order upon a bed 
of spikes set firmly in an oak. This slab 
with spikes is brought in and he is made 
to examine them and finds that they are 
real spikes. Without his knowledge this 
is removed and a fictitious bed of spikes 
is substituted. He is then ordered to 
mount the 'stepladder and jump down on 
the spikes. This is to test his bravery — 
it seems more like a test of dare-devilism. 
But especially is this to test his willing- 
ness to implicit obedience. Obedience is 
the corner stone of the lodge. He is then 
after a lecture as to the meaning of this 
test required to take the oath. 

Aid to Lawless Implied. 

In addition to the repetition of the for- 
mer promise of secrecy, the Knight 
swears that he will always to the extent 
of his ability relieve a worthy Knight in 
distress, warn him of threatening danger, 
and aid him whenever and wherever he 
may be in need. A circumscribed course 
of duty therefore of relief, friendship 
and aid to the favored few — and that 
without any reservations, provided they 
the worthy Knights, having paid their 
dues and being in good and regular stand- 
ing in the Lodge. 

There is here no pretense of a patriotic 
or Christian spirit. It savors of the 
promise made in Masonic oaths, as for 
example, in the oath of the Master Ma- 
son's degree where the promise is made to 
hold inviolable the secrets of a brother 
Master Mason, murder and treason ex- 
cepted ; but in the seventh degree, Roval 
Arch Masonry, this exception is removed. 
There is no such exception made in the 
Knights of Pythias oath. To remedy this 
it is said in the instructions which follow : 



26S 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



1922. 



"You must remember that you are posi- 
tively forbidden to use any of the signs, 
pass-words or other instructions which 
have been or may hereafter be given you 
in this order as a means to violate the law 
of the land, or transgress the established 
rules of society." Let it be observed that 
this caution implies that these things may 
be so used and are liable to be put to 
such use. Quite an admission for the 
lodge to make in an official way ! Ex- 
perience has shown that this is all too 
true. The candidate is thus forbidden to 
use his lodge connections in this way. The 
Order does not stand openly for lawless- 
ness — that would be folly. Why does it 
require an oath that has, according to 
their own official admission, a lawless 
tendency? Why place a man under oath 
at the beginning of a course having a law- 
less tendency and then plaster this thing 
over by saying that he may not walk in it ? 
The lecture proceeds : "Nor are you 
bound to recognize any of them [signs, 
pass-words, etc.] when they are made use 
of by any one guilty of these offenses. 
The secret work of this Order is for the 
protection and assistance of its members 
only when they are doing right." 

Let us examine this statement. In the 
first place, here is again the acknowledg- 
ment that those things may be readily used 
for wrong purposes. That alone should 
condemn them for they are self-assumed 
and arbitrarily imposed. Again it is im- 
plied that people may need secret work 
when they are doing right — as if light 
needs darkness to protect it ! ! ! And then, 
if they are really concerned lest their 
secret work be employed in a way of law- 
lessness, why do they not incorporate the 
prohibition in the oath. That would be 
the place for it ; then it might have some 
force by reason of the oath-bound obliga- 
tion. This is not done. No prohibition 
is ever implied in the oath, but the con- 
trary is clearly stated: Whenever and 
wherever the worthy Knight may be in 
need, and his worthiness is not determined 
by his moral character, but by his relation 
to the Lodge. 

Morality, With Reservations. 

A further peculiarity of this oath is its 
morality with implied reservations In 
words almost copied from the Masonic 
oath (the imitation is clearly noticeable) 



the promise is that he will never by any 
act of his voluntarily disturb the domestic 
relations of a brother Knight, but that, so 
far as possible he will protect the peace 
and purity of his household. The 
language used reveals but little more 
sense of decency than that employed by 
the Masons. The Master Mason swears : 
"That I will not cheat, wrong or defraud 
a Master Mason's lodge, or a brother of 
this degree, nor supplant him in any of 
his laudable undertakings. * * * That I 
will not have illicit carnal intercourse with 
a brother Master Mason's wife, his 
mother, sister or daughter, I knowing 
them to be such." In the Knight of 
Pythias oath we are left to infer that the 
Knight may wreck the domestic relations, 
peace and purity of the homes of those 
w r ho are not fellow Knights. Of course, it 
is not openly said that he may do this in a 
manner as the Masons express it. To 
openly allow and approve of such a thing 
would look too shameful ; but every one 
knows that every negative implies a posi- 
tive, and there would be no sense in these 
reservations if there were no implication 
with regard to what lies outside of these 
reservations. 

The oath concludes with the solemn 
promise of meeting his financial dues and 
rendering obedience to the lodge. 

The writer believes the above to be a 
faithful and fair criticism of the Knights 
of Pythias lodge, viewed in the light of 
Holy Scripture. There is only this con- 
clusion that we can reach — that the 
Knights of Pythias order belongs dis- 
tinctly to that family of lodges of which 
Masonry is the mother, and all of which 
together constitute a great part in the 
modern development of that system op- 
posed to the truth of God and His Christ, 
and with respect to which Scripture ex- 
horts : "Come ye out from among them 
and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and 
touch not the unclean thing; and I will 
receive you, and will be a Father unto 
you and ye shall be my sons and 
daughters, saith the Lord Almighty" 
(2 Cor. 6:17, 18). 



Another thought for tomorrow : Some 
of us have more ups and downs in this 
world than others, but in the cemetery 
all are on the dead level. 



I. -M'.uary, 1922. 



CHRISTIAN CYN< >SURE 



269 




"Every secret society, so far as it is widespread and influential, threatens the purity 
and existence of democratic institutions, and warps them to private ends and clas"s 
supremacy. Every good citizen should make war on all secret societies, and give himself 
no rest until they are forbidden by law and rooted out of existence." 

—Wendell Phillips, in a letter to Rev. James P. Stoddard, Mar J, Is. 1880. 



270 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



January, 1922. 



CHRIST JESUS IN THE BIBLE AND IN MASONRY. 

!;. M. ITOLT, LATE SECRETARY, PIERSON LODGE, NO. 169, BARNESVILLE, MINN 



Christ Jesus as Represented in Scripture. 

God so loved the world that He gave 
His only begotten Son, that whosoever 
believeth in Him should not perish, but 
have everlasting life (John 3:16). 

The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, 
cleanseth us from all sin (I John 17). 

Without the shedding of blood there is 
no remission of sin (Heb. 9:22). 

Behold the Lamb of God,, which taketh 
away the sin of the world (John 1 129). 

Surely He hath borne our griefs and 
carried our sorrows ; yet we did esteem 
Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflict- 
ed. But He was wounded for our trans- 
gressions, He was bruised for our in- 
iquities ; the chastisement of our peace 
was upon Him, and with His stripes we 
are healed (Isaiah 53:4-5). 

There is none other name under heaven 
given among men whereby we must be 
saved (Acts 4:12). 

The Recognition of Christ Jesus Which the 
Scriptures Demand. 

All men should honor the Son, even 
as they honor the Father. He that hon- 
oreth not the Son honoreth not the Father 
which hath sent Him (John 5:23). 

He who was ordained of God to be the 
Judge of the living and the dead (Acts 
10:42 R. V.). 

God hath appointed a day in which He 
will judge the world in righteousness by 
that man (Jesus Christ) whom He hath 
ordained (Acts 17:31). 

Wherefore God also hath highly exalt- 
ed Him and given Him a name which is 
above every name, that at the name of 
Jesus every knee should bow, of things 
in heaven, and things in earth, and things 
under the earth ; and that every tongue 
should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, 
to the glory of God the Father (Phil. 
2:9-11). 

He that believeth and is baptized shall 
be saved ; but he that believeth not shall 
be damned (Mark 16:16). 
Christ Jesus as Represented in Masonry. 

Masonry boasts that the Bible lies open 
on her altars and that no atheist can be- 
come a Mason. Many Masons put their 
lodge above the church just as they put 
the square and compass above the Bible. 
The following quotations, largely from 



Grand Lodge Proceedings and letters 
from officials speak for themselves : 

"We do not require any member seek- 
ing admission to the Order to make any 
declaration except a belief in one God. 
There is no rejection of Jesus Christ, 
neither is there any requirement of ac- 
ceptance of Jesus Christ." — W. L. Stock- 
well, Executive Member Masonic Serv- 
ice Association United States, Official 
Document January 18, 1921. 

Is it true that "there is no rejection 
of Jesus Christ"? The definition of "re- 
jection" in Webster's Dictionary is: "re- 
fusing to acknowledge." Read the para- 
graph just preceding this again. Does 
the Order acknowledge Jesus Christ? 

"We are in Lent, the hurrahs and 
hosannas, the palms and the festivities 
remind us of the triumphs of new ideas 
even more than of the martyrdom of the 
Nazarene." — F. de P. Rodriguez, Foreign 
Correspondent, Grand Lodge, Cuba, in 
The Builder, page 217, August, 1920. 

"It is true that a Jew may be a good 
Mason and reject the teachings of Christ. 
W T ith that Masonry has nothing to do." 
— G. E. Knepper, Secretary, Grand 
Lodge, Idaho, Official Document, Janu- 
ary 8th, 192 1. 

"The Grand Orator (Grand Lodge, 
Arkansas, 1918), Brother J. C. Pinnex, 
delivered a beautifully worded address, 
full of noble thoughts, which must have 
charmed his audience. It is a pity that 
he forgot that Masonry is nonsectarian. 
Some of his utterances must have offend- 
ed our Jewish brethren, if any were pres- 
ent." — J. L. Michie, Fraternal Corre- 
spondent, Grand Lodge, South Carolina, 
Proceedings, 1919, page 15. 

Hon. C. C. Hunt, Deputy Grand Sec- 
retary, Iowa, says the use of the name of 
Christ Jesus in Masonic prayers is "not 
good." — Official Document, December 
18, 1921. 

"Hundreds of churches over the land 
today are anti-Christ, not only the Jews, 
but hundreds of others ; yet they believe 
that God rules and reigns over the uni- 
verse ; and by such belief they are eligible 
to become members of our Order." — 
Dave Jackson, Secretary, Grand Lodge, 
Kentucky, Official Document, February 




January, 1922. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



271 



2nd, 192 1. 

"The Prayer beginning, 'Our Father 
which art in heaven,' is very, very errone- 
ously called the 'Lord's Prayer,' meaning 
thereby the prayer of Jesus Christ. The 
real 'Lord's Prayer,' that is, the prayer 
of Jesus Christ, is to be found in the 
T/th Chapter of St. John. The prayer 
referred to is one of the oldest prayers 
of Our Father we know of, and has been 
in constant use by the Jewish people, 
almost word for word, from their earliest 
known history. * * * Thus the Mason, 
be he Jew or Gentile, Mohammedan or 
Parsee, Buddhist or Brahmin, can pray 
to 'Our Father' which art in heaven, 
without offense in the hearing of his 
Brethren of whatever creed. One of the 
finest sermons we ever heard was de- 
livered by a Jewish Rabbi in the First 
Methodist Church here. His text was 
'Have we not all one Father ; hath not 
one God created us ?' " — Past Grand 
Master, J. L. Michie, South Carolina, 
Op. cit. page 47. 

And so the Lord's Prayer has been 
purged (Masonically) of all Christian 
significance so that even a Masonic Jew 
will respect it ! But when Christ says 
"Our Father," He means "my Father 
and your Father" (John 20:17). 

In 1907, St. John's Lodge No. 53, 
A. F. & A. M., of Tyler. Texas, asked 
the Grand Master, John P. Bell: "Is it 
unmasonic for a brother while praying 
either in the lodge, or at a burial, to close 
the prayer with the phrase, 'for the sake 
of Jesus Christ'?" 

The Grand Master answered : "No." 
But when the Grand Lodge of Texas met 
later, the Committee on Jurisprudence 
rejected the action of the Master in these 
words : 

"It is unfortunate that any question 
bearing even remotely upon disputed mat- 
ters of religion should have arisen in any 
subordinate lodge, and it is to be regretted 
that any such matter should be agitated 
by being forced upon the consideration 
of any committee of this Grand Lodge. 
However much it may be regretted, such 
a question arises in the thirtieth decision 
of the Grand Master as to the proper con- 
clusion of prayers at burials and in 
lodges, and while the Grand Master may 
be right in deciding that it is not un- 
masonic in the sense that charges could 



not be sustained for such action, in con- 
cluding Masonic prayers according to 
the formula of any religion, still we 
think that it is contrary to the spirit of 
Freemasonry, and is in derogation of its 
universality, which would demand that 
no phrases or terms should be used in a 
Masonic service that would arouse sec- 
tarian feelings or wound the religious 
sensibilities of any Freemason." (This 
decision is upheld by the Secretary of the 
Texas Grand Lodge to this day!) The 
above named Committee was composed 
of five Past Grand Masters, who were 
Grand Representatives to the Texas 
Grand Lodge, from the following states : 
Anson Rainey, Nova Scotia; W. S. Fly, 
Wisconsin and North Carolina ; George 
W. Tyler, Mexico and New York ; John 
L. Terrell, Connecticut; A. W. Campbell, 
North Dakota. — Proceedings, T e x a s, 
1907, pages 3, 4, 22, 84, 85, 167. 

The explanation which Masonry otters 
for the wilful omission of Christ's name 
from Masonic prayers, is this : "We 
have, as you know, a great many brethren 
of the Jewish faith, who have been at- 
tracted to the fraternity because of the 
supposition that it was founded upon the 
ancient rites rather than upon the more 
modern." — Charles C. Clark, Grand Gen- 
eralissimo, Knights Templar, Iowa, Offi- 
cial Document, March 11, 1921. 

"I do not know why the name of Christ 
is left out of our Masonic proceedings, 
unless it is in view of the fact that Ma- 
sonry is supposed to be an ancient order. 
and is not necessarily a Christian institu- 
tion." — W. M. Sexson, Secretary A. A. 
S. R., 33 Hon, Oklahoma. ' Official 
Document, March 14, 1921. 

The extreme care that Masonry exer- 
cises in keeping the name of Christ out of 
Masonic proceedings is also noted in a 
quotation from the Proceedings. Grand 
Lodge, Indiana, by Past Grand Master 
G. W. Bard. Washington. D. C , from 
one Mr. Funkhouser : "The Masonic con- 
ception of God is not the early Hebrm c 
God oi vengeance and cruelty, who-c 
chief care was for a 'chosen people." Our 
God is the merciful Father of all men, 
who so loved the world * * *." Note 
the omission as to Christ. — Proceedings 
of District of Columbia. 1918, page 336. 

Not only does Masonry reject our 
crucified and risen Saviour, but it de 



Ill 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



January, 1922. 



clares : "The principles we teach are the 
only influence that can save and redeem 
the world." — A. G. Burnett, Grand Mas • 
ter. California. Proceedings, Oklahoma, 
1918, page 225. 

Furthermore, Masonry blasphemes the 
name of God — Christ Jesus. The "an- 
cient landmarks'' forbid the initiation of 
any man physically imperfect. To drive 
this "law" home real ''forcefully," Grand 
Master J. W. Barry, Iowa, says: 

"If Christ Himself were on earth again 
and had the misfortune to lose a hand 
and should then come to us recommended 
by the other members of the Holy Trinity, 
He would be turned away as unfit to be 
made a Mason in Iowa." — Proceedings, 
D. C. Idem. Cit. Page 339. 

Could a more complete denial be made 
of Christ and all things that pertain to 
his work of Redemption than the follow- 
ing: 

"Immortal life is something to be 
earned, by slow self -conquest and com- 
radeship with pain and patient seeking 
after high truths. We cannot follow our 
own wayward wills, and feed our baser 
appetites, and give loose reign to foolish 
tempters year by year, and then cry : 
'Lord, forgive me ; I believe,' and 
straightaway bathe in glory. Man must 
learn God's system is too grand a thing 
for that. The spark divine dwells in our 
soul and we can fan it to a steady flame of 
light, whose lustre gilds the pathway to 
the tomb and shines on through eternity, 
or else neglect it until it glimmers down 
to death and leaves us but the darkness 
of the grave; each conquered passion 
feeds the living flame ; each well-borne 
sorrow is a step toward God. Faith can 
not rescue and no blood redeem the soul 
that will not reason and resolve." — Com- 
mittee on Necrology, Grand Lodge, Ore- 
gon, Proceedings, Iowa, 1920, page 175. 
Ashamed of Thee. 

Jesus, and shall it ever be, 

A mortal man ashamed of Thee? 

Ashamed of Thee, whom angels praise, 

Whose glories shine through endless days? 



* * 

yes, I may, 



Ashamed of Jesus 
When I've no guilt to wash away, 
N'o tear to wipe, no good to crave, 
No fear to quell, no soul to save. 

Till then, nor is my boasting vain, 
Till then I boast a Savior slain ; 
And O may this my glory be, 
That Christ is not ashamed of me ! 



ELKDOM GRAND LODGE. 

We take from the California Mis- 
sionary, of Los Angeles, California, No- 
vember, 1 92 1, an extract on the meeting 
in Los Angeles of the Grand Lodge of 
the Benevolent and Protective Order of 
Elks, which was copied from the Los An- 
geles Examiner. 

"The new Grand Exalted Ruler of the 
Order, Wm. W. Mountain, in his official 
address which was characterized in the 
Los Angeles Examiner as 'remarkable 
and a topic of constant conversation by 
the members of the Grand Lodge,' had 
something to say about the religious side 
of Elkdom. Here is one paragraph: 

' 'We do not care whether he is a Jew 
or Gentile, we do not care whether he is 
Protestant or Catholic, so long as he be- 
lieves in our God, the Supreme Ruler of 
the universe, so long as he belongs to and 
believes in our country — America — our 
Flag, Old Glory — and he has no other 
God, no other country, no other flag, and 
so long as his life proves his faith.' 

"So these Elks had a 'God,' and his 
name is The Supreme Ruler of the uni- 
verse.' If there is anything in a name, 
and we believe there is, then this 'God' 
must be a different one from the one we 
Christians worship, for our God's name 
is 'Father, Son and Holy Ghost.' We 
grow quite skeptical when he says that 
a Jew, a Gentile and a Christian can alike 
believe in their 'God.' But hasn't our 
God given us strictly to understand that 
unless we become regenerated Christians 
we cannot believe in Him — 'Except a man 
be born again he cannot see the kingdom 
of God,' John 3, 3. Indeed, it makes a 
big difference with our God. If their 
'God' is our God, why was it that at the 
Elks' Memorial Service in Ft. Wayne, 
Ind., several years ago they sang the 
Doxology thus : 

Praise God from whom all blessings flow, 
Praise Him all creatures here below, 
Praise Him above for all that's good, 
Praise God for our true Brotherhood. 

Instead of 'Praise Father, Son and Holy 
Ghost,' as we Christians do ? Was it not 
because their 'God' is different from ours 
and had they sung it as we Christians do 
some of their Jewish and Gentile brethren 
would have been offended ? 

"But Mr. Mountain, the Elks' Grand 




January, 1922. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



273 



Exalted Ruler, has another paragraph. 
Note we are giving whole paragraphs and 
not only disjointed sentences and expres- 
sions. This one must sting every Chris- 
tian ear to the quick — if there is any 
quick left in it : 

" 'We don't want to make a church out 
of it, we don't want to preach sermons, 
but, my brothers and friends, the only 
thing God ever asked us to do was, not 
to pray, to join a church, or give our 
money, but to give ourselves to every fel- 
low who needs us, and to the one who 
needs us most, to him we owe the most 
and it is only inasmuch as we obey this 
injunction that we can square our own 
account with the Real Boss.' 

"Here Mr. Mountain calls the Elks' 
'God' the 'Real Boss.' Is that the name 
of the Lord of hosts of whom the angels 
in reverential adoration sang 'the whole 
earth is full of thy glory.' But, dear 
Christian reader, is that a fact that our 
God does not ask us to pray, to join a 
church, to support the church with our 
means, but first and foremost to help our 
needy fellow man ; and has He ever given 
us the promise that if we do this last He 
will call things square and open the door 
of heaven for us? Alas, now there is 
no doubt about it and the Elks' 'God' and 
religion is a different one from ours. 
Our God says expressly, 'Pray without 
ceasing,' (I Thess. 3:17). 'Not forsak- 
ing the assembling of ourselves together 
as the manner of some is,' (Heb. 10, 25). 
'Even so did the Lord ordain that they 
that preach the Gospel should live of the 
Gospel,' (I Cor. 9:14), and 'He that be- 
lieveth (on the Lord Jesus Christ) and 
is baptized shall be saved ; but he that be- 
lieveth not shall be damned,' ( Mark 
16, 16). 

"The religion of Elkdom, therefore, 
like that of practically all other fraternal 
orders, is in a nutshell this : Be a good 
fellow to everybody else, especially to 
your own lodge brother, and you are sure 
to get into the Grand Lodge above. But 
mark you well, dear reader, that 'Grand 
Lodge above' is not the heaven of which 
Jesus Christ said T go to prepare a place 
for you,' for Jesus Christ has never been 
allowed there. It is a 'heaven' which 
every faithful Elk, Mason, Odd Fellow, 
etc., prepares for himself. It is a man- 



made heaven which, you may rest as- 
sured, passes away with the maker there- 
of. 

"How unspeakably sad that thousands 
and millions in our land are risking their 
soul's salvation on this religion of the 
lodge ! And how clearly does not the 
above again disprove that oft-made state- 
ment, 'There is no conflict between the 
Church and the lodge.' ' 



About 750,000 of the 3,900.000 mem- 
bers of the American Federation of La- 
bor have been dropped from the mem- 
bership roll, announces President Samuel 
Gompers, because of non-payment of 
dues. 



THE NATIONAL 
CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION 



is the title of an incorporated association 
which was organized in the city of Pittsburgh, 
Pa., in 1868, by representatives of seventeen 
orthodox denominations. It holds that faith 
in Christ is the sole ground of acceptance 
with God; and that grace received by faith 
is the sole power of regeneration. It believes, 
moreover, that Satan is the god of this world 
and the god of all false religions, and that 
the lodge system denies Christ and worships 
Satan. 

Its object is to keep the membership of 
the churches out of secret organizations for 
these among other reasons: 1. Because they 
are declared to be organized on a basis so 
necessarily broad as to exclude the idea of 
Christ as the world's only Redeemer. 2. Be- 
cause they substitute in their elaims and in 
the minds of many of their membership, the 
secret society for the Christian church. 3. 
Because of the relation of the obligation of 
these secret orders to the oaths and decisions 
of courts. 

: v 

/ give, devise and bequeath unto the NATIOXAL 
CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION, a corporation created and 
existing under and by virtue of the laws of the State of 
Illinois, and having its principal office at 850 West Madi- 
son street, Chicago, 111., 



Dollars, 

(or if lands, describe the same) to. be applied to the uses 
and purposes of said Association, and under its direction. 



14 



274 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



January, 1922. 



1 1 1 1 M ! M 1 1 1 f 1 1 1 1 1 M I E 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ! 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 f 1 1 1 1 1 1 S 1 1 1 i 1 1 1 1 1 1 IS 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 f 1 1 1 i 1 1 1 & It 1 1 E »!! 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 B M 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 fi 1 1 1 1 * 1 1 1 1 i 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ' 



The Question of the Hour 



By E. E. FLAGG 

AUTHOR OF 

"Holden With Cords." 



Tiiliiiiililiilllliliiilillllllllllllllllllllllliiiiilllllllllillliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigilllllllllllllllllllllillllii 



CHAPTER XX. 

tom's dream comes true. 

It was some time before Tom re- 
covered animation, and then he developed 
symptoms so serious that Dennis O'Sul- 
livan was dispatched for a physician. 
This was not simply for the reason that 
he was close at hand ; but Peter Snyder 
was now as earnest to be his brother's 
keeper as hitherto to be his destroyer, 
and it was with a determination to help 
Providence keep the demijohn empty for 
one day at least that he sent him on the 
errand, having first fortified him against 
his alcoholic cravings with a cup of 
strong coffee. 

"An' shure, Mr. Snyder," said Dennis, 
when he was told to go for one who lived 
four miles away, "I moight foind ye a 
doctor nigher'n the Forks." 

Mr. Snyder (for it is a singular proof 
of the power of Christianity to uplift a 
man socially as well as morally that even 
his old cronies no longer addressed him 
in their old. familiar fashion) glanced up 
from the helpless form over which he 
was working, chafing the cold hands and 
feet and applying restoratives, and hesi- 
tated an instant, but only an instant. 
Then he answered decidedly : 

"I know you could, but I've got my 
reasons. If it was a dozen miles instead 
of four I wouldn't have the other one." 

The doctor "nigher than the Forks" 
happened to be one of those medical prac- 
titioners with whom a free prescription 
of whisky seems to be the one resource 
when, as not infrequently happens, their 
knowledge is at fault and their materia 
medica exhausted. Peter knew that the 
first thing he would be likely to^do would 
be to order alcoholic stimulants in some 
form, and this repentant rumseller was 
determined by the grace of God that he 
would never again be even an accessory 
to putting the bottle to his neighbor's lips. 
That the doctor in question was also a 
Freemason may have somewhat affected 



his decision, but before the reader accuses 
Peter Snyder of unfairness and bigotry, 
let us present the case. 

The bright and shining example of Ma- 
sonic charity to which he had just been 
a witness was in itself an argument 
strong enough to appeal to obtuser minds 
than his. He had read the story of the 
Good Samaritan, or rather had managed 
to spell it out with much difficulty, but 
his narrow range of literary attainments 
did not incapacitate him from judging 
for himself which carried out most fully 
both the letter and spirit of the parable: 
he and Dennis O' Sullivan who had never 
enjoyed the benefit of lodge instructions 
on the subject ; or the man of the square 
and compass who could coolly turn away 
and leave a fellow-being lying by the 
roadside, exposed to the pitiless storm, 
with the hasty surmise that it was all 
that fellow -being's fault ! Supposing he 
had been right. Were the thieves who 
lay in wait between Jericho and Jeru- 
salem, and who only took a man's purse 
and bodily ill-treated him, half as bad as 
the modern thieves who lay in wait to 
rob and murder him soul and body, and 
then shield their crime under a govern- 
ment license? Peter Snyder thought not, 
and it must be acknowledged that he had 
both logic and Scripture truth on his side. 
Furthermore, the chances were ten to 
one that the Masonic doctor would for- 
get to come. He had this convenient 
habit of forget fulness when his patients 
were from a lower strata in society than 
he cared to attend : and sometimes — for 
he disproved the assertion that doctors 
never take their own drugs by a free use 
of his own alcoholic prescriptions — he 
was not in a condition to remember any- 
thing. 

Martin Treworthy, when he heard that 
Tom had been found and where he was, 
may be pardoned if he entertained at first 
some disagreeable suspicions. He had 
not heard anything of Peter Snyder since 
he left Jacksonville, and the name sug- 



January, 1922. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



275 



gested only a human spider whose custom 
was to catch and devour all the foolish 
human flies he could inveigle into his 
trap; though, of course, had the ques- 
tion been fairly put to him, "Can there be 
saving grace with the Eternal for such a 
wretch?" Martin, who held firmly to all 
the cardinal points of evangelical doc- 
trine, would have answered, "Yes," most 
emphatically. Still, as I said before, let 
us forgive him if such a thing as Peter 
Snyder's conversion had not yet occurred 
to him as among the possibilities. But 
upon his arrival he looked in upon a 
scene very different from what he had 
imagined. 

Tom lay very quiet. All his vital 
powers exhausted, his feeble mind, still 
more enfeebled by disease, was only con- 
scious of having been terribly tired and 
terribly cold, and being suddenly lifted 
into an atmosphere of warmth and rest. 
There were bright, red drops on the 
coarse napkin with which Mr. Snyder at 
intervals tenderly wiped his mouth and 
lips, but his eyes were closed and he 
breathed as softly and evenly as a sleep- 
ing child. The vision of Nelson and the 
farm no longer danced before his be- 
wildered brain, but in place of it had 
come a feeling of delicious assurance that 
it was all coming true by and by, only he 
would have to wait a little while longer. 

Some have advanced the theory that in 
the resurrection state, a certain subtle 
atmosphere emanating from and envelop- 
ing us with a mantle of personal individu- 
ality as strong and unmistakable as the 
physical habits or the bodily features 
which belong to us in our mortal exist- 
ence, may form the basis of spiritual 
recognition. And Martin Treworthy had 
now an experience slightly similar. This 
was Peter Snyder, but over him had 
passed a change — that miraculous making 
over of the entire man when a new heart 
and a new spirit is put within him,. and a 
new song in his mouth, even praise to 
Him who hath redeemed him to God by 
His blood and made him in the glory and 
mystery of salvation a king and priest 
forever. Such a wonderful thing to hap- 
pen to him ! 

There were moments when Peter Sny- 
der stood dazed with the strangeness of it 
— that it should really be given to him — 
the new name and the white stone, and 



the ineffable blessedness of pardon, and 
most wonderful tiling of all that he could 
actually begin his life over again and live 
an existence as different and as utterly 
separate from his former one as an 
angel's from a fiend's. 

He rose hesitatingly when Martin Tre- 
worthy entered. Something of, the shame 
of his old misdeeds clung about this new 
life still, like a kind of husk which would 
never quite drop away ; and perhaps it 
was best that it should not, for it was a 
healthy shame and had its own mission to 
perform in making him a better man. 

"I s'pose you remember me for a poor, 
miserable, God-forsaken critter. Mr. Tre- 
worthy," he said humbly ; "but you won't 
see any rum bar 'Is round here, nor smell 
any tobaccy, nor hear any swearing. I've 
knocked clean off from them things and 
I w r ant folks to know it, and that Jesus 
Christ has stood by and helped me all 
along,. and if I ain't what I was once all 
the praise and glory is His. I w r ant you 
to know it special" — Peter paused an in- 
stant, and then he went on in a tone that, 
while still humble and even appealing, 
had a certain manly dignity: "Maybe 
you'd prefer to find this sick boy of 
yourn in other hands, and I can't say I 
blame ye for the feeling, but I found him 
layin' by the roadside in a dead faint, and 
I've done all for him Lknow'3 how. And 
if you are a Christian, and somehow I 
take it you are. you'll feel as the Lord 
does — glad to give me a chance even if 
I don't deserve it." 

Perhaps there was a little touch of — 
what shall we call it? — not defiance, not 
resentment, but the natural feeling of a 
converted publican who is conscious that 
his former life has given his fellow-men 
great reason to mistrust him, and yet in 
whom the unspeakable "kindness and love 
of God our Saviour" has wakened a 
strange longing to be trusted. 

Martin Treworthy 's spiritual intuitions 
were quick. He had come with the feel- 
ing that he could not even bear the idea 
of Tom's being touched by the man to 
whom his present condition was in so 
large a degree owing, but when he real- 
ized the truth, Peter Snyder's speech did 
not seem a strange or impertinent one. 
Why should not this poor publican, if he 
had truly repented, be allowed to bring 
forth fruits meet for repentence ? Why 



276 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



h 



1922. 



should he, as he himself put it, be 
grudged the chance to undo some of 
the evil work. 

Martin Treworthy held out his hand, 
and the bright drops stood in his eyes. 

"The Lord bless you, brother ; and may 
he forgive me for an old Pharisee that I 
am." 

"But," answered Peter Snyder, his 
coarse, uncomely features half covered 
with a straggling, red beard, not very dis- 
similar to that bestowed by old Venetian 
painters on his apostolic namesake, ir- 
radiated with a smile both humble and 
sweet. "I said nothing of the kind. I said 
I didn't blame ye for any feelin' ye might 
have, and no more I don't. It's only 
nateral ye should feel so." 

"That don't make any difference," said 
Martin, "I've found that the best thing 
to do when the coat fits is not to get mad 
about it, or to make believe it don't fit, 
but to pray the Lord to fill us so full of 
grace that our souls will grow too big for 
wearin' on't comfortable. And now 
about this poor fellow here ; I must take 
him home as soon as I can." 

"But I ought to tell ye" — Peter Snyder 
stopped for an instant as if it was a little 
difficult to go on- — "I've had the doctor 
to him. I thought it wouldn't do no hurt, 
and he says — but then doctors don't al- 
ius tell right — that his wandering off so, 
and the fatigue and exposure and every- 
thing has only brought the end nearer 
that wa'n't a great way off anyhow. 
We've done all we could, but if there's 
anybody that ought to be telegraphed to 
it had better be done right away." 

By "we" Peter Snyder meant to in- 
clude his wife. She was a small, pale, 
broken-down, slatternly woman, with 
little education, but womanly enough to 
have known times when she was thank- 
ful for the three short graves that cov- 
ered all her maternal hopes. Her hus- 
band had not always been kind to her — 
quite the reverse — but she had adapted 
herself to her lot with a resignation as 
complete as it was hopeless ; so very com- 
plete, in fact, that she did not respond 
readily to the most earnest and well- 
directed efforts on his part to lift her up 
to the same moral and spiritual elevation 
he had himself reached. 

Theoreticallv this should not have 



been. She ought to have risen at once 
to the height of her new opportunity, but 
theories and facts are not always recon- 
cilable. Will a flower, beaten to the 
ground by a week of hard rain, lift itself 
immediately on its stalk when the rain is 
over, and the sun comes forth to create 
a new world out of twinkling grassblades 
and shimmering leaves, and all the myriad 
of dimpling, flashing, wayside pools? 
Then why expect it of a miserable, de- 
graded womanhood, made miserable and 
degraded by circumstances and associa- 
tions not of her choosing? It is a bitter 
cup many of these women drink. God 
only knows how bitter. 

Martin Treworthy felt his brain reel. 
Mechanically he went to Tom's side and 
sat down. If he was only sure where 
Nelson was and could dispatch a tele- 
gram ! But he did not think of a more 
subtle telegraphy, an electric wire hidden 
deep in the mysteries of being, over which 
messages are sometimes strangely flashed 
to the soul, though philosophy as yet can 
only class it with the long list of mental 
and spiritual phenomena about which we 
may only presume to conjecture. 

Tom knew him, for he smiled, stroked 
his hand, and said something rambling 
and but half coherent, of which the only 
intelligible words were "Nelson" and 
"the farm." 

They watched beside him, one as 
tenderly as the other, all that day and the 
next, Martin Treworthy almost feeling 
his whole being dissolve as it were in 
the intensity of his one constant petition 
that Nelson might return before the 
flickering lamp of Tom's life went out. 

sjt sjs ;jt 

The sun was going down in a glorious 
sweep of golden light that reflected itself 
in the tranquil waters of the creek like 
some dual existence, half dreams and half 
reality, but one so like the other that the 
dream seems a reality and the reality 
seems a dream. 

Tom had been restless much of the 
time, and now he wanted to be lifted up 
and look out. The window stood wide 
open to give more air to his exhausted 
lungs, but the day had been one of those 
unusually mild ones which have such a 
singular charm, as if the spring, in a fit 
of coquetry, was trying on some of the 



January, 1922. 



CHRISTIAN C V X OSU R K 



277 



matronly airs of summer. The ther- 
mometer had registered 75 in the shade. 
A slight haze from the smoke of far- 
distant burning prairies gave a dreamy 
softness to the horizon like a thin veil 
drawn over glories too bright for mortal 
view. 

What was passing through his mind. 
which had seemed too dull and imbecile 
almost to have thoughts ? I think nothing 
beyond a general sense of calm content- 
ment. The state of partial delirium was 
over, and he only remembered his strange 
escapade like a bad dream from which it 
is pleasant to wake. But suddenly his 
eyes brightened. He seemed to hear 
something unnoted by either of the 
watchers at his bedside. It is a sound 
of horse's hoofs. They are coming 
nearer and nearer, and he knows by some 
strange intuition that they will stop at 
the door, that the rider will fling himself 
off in hot haste, and that rider will be— 
Nelson. 

It is even so. Tom is again folded in 
those strong arms, and the scalding tears 
are falling on his face, and he wonders 
why when he is so happy. Does there 
come before his weak brain the image of 
a Love mightier than a brother's? — of 
sunshine falling on green fields in some 
far-off blissful clime brighter than all his 
dreamings, where that love shall enfold 
him forever and all his miserable heritage 
of weakness, mental, moral, and physical, 
drop away and leave him what God and 
nature meant he should be ; restoring to 
him the heritage of which he had been 
despoiled without hope of redress? 
Though our Christian faith bids us be- 
lieve that to such unfortunates the de- 
ficiencies of their earthly lot will be bal- 
anced in another world, can any such 
consideration diminish aught of the sin 
and crime of depriving them of their 
birthright here ? Do not the highest scien- 
tific authorities unite in telling us that the 
great majority of the feeble-minded chil- 
dren who fill our various asylums are 
made such by the intemperate habits of 
parents ? 

The mysterious change came over 
Tom's face. Nelson saw it. and it 
checked his sobs with an impulse of fore- 
shadowing awe. He lay back on the pil- 
low panting for breath, his eyes wide 
open and fixed on a warm, golden gleam 



that shot across the roughly plastered 
wall opposite. 

"Sing," he said, wearily. 

And Nelson sung the hymn which for 
some unexplained reason Tom had al- 
ways seemed to like the best : 

"On Jordan's stormy bank> I stand 

And cast a wishful eye, 
To Canaan's fair and happy land 

Where my possessions lie." 

Nelson had always wondered why Tom 
should fancy it, being perfectly certain 
that his understanding was not equal to 
any real grasping of the sentiment of the 
hymn ; but it suddenly flashed on his 
mind that he had perhaps connected the 
words in some dim fashion with their 
old air castle destined to have no earthly 
realization. 

The thought made it hard for Nelson 
to go on, but he would not let himself 
falter. 

And even as his voice rang out sweet 
and true in the closing lines, Tom fell 
asleep. 

* ' * * 

"It was that night in Jesse Dukes' 
cabin. I had just laid down when I 
seemed to hear Tom's voice and started 
up broad awake, but everything was still, 
and there was nothing to be seen only the 
stars shining down through a chink in 
the logs ; and I fell asleep again after 
awhile for I was tired. But I couldn't 
get it out of my head that Tom wanted 
me, and the impression on my mind kept 
growing stronger every day, for I stayed 
round in the neighborhood thinking I 
should get a letter right off, and when 
none came I made up my mind to go back 
to Tom, and never leave him again." 

This was in substance the explanation 
which Nelson gave of his startling reap- 
pearance to Martin Treworthy, who was 
blaming himself for a miserable coun- 
sellor and heaping on himself many un- 
deserved reproaches for having urged 
him to leave Jacksonville at all. 

"My dear old friend," said Nelson. 
affectionately taking his hand, "this won't 
do. You counselled according to your 
light. It seemed best at the time that I 
should go away and seek another home 
for both of us. And who shall say it 
was not best so loner as God ordered it. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



January, 1922. 



1 thought if I could only put Tom where 
he would be safe, where not the shadow 
of temptation could touch him ! And the 
Lord has done just that thing — so much 
better than I could do it.'' 

And Nelson once more bowed himself 
over the unconscious dead, dimly won- 
dering if Tom had met their mother, and 
what they would say to each other as the 
golden doors of the new life closed be- 
hind them. As he stood there he was 
conscious of a hand touching his arm, 
and a voice that said brokenly : 

"If I could give my own life in his 
place, and ye could have him back again, 
I'd do it in a minit, but when a man has 
been weaving the devil's web most all his 
life, undoing the threads comes hard. If 
ye can only forgive me for the Lord's 
sake for my share in bringin' this trouble 
on ye." 

Nelson's feelings towards Peter Sny- 
der, so far as he thought of him at all, 
had not been unlike Martin Treworthy's. 
Still, his anger against the system itself 
on which he felt his brother's death to 
be directly chargeable burned with too 
fierce a flame to leave much to spare in 
any merely personal direction. The 
moments in which he stood there were 
not simply moments of communion with 
his beloved dead, still less of mere in- 
dulging in his grief. He was passing 
through a mighty baptism in great waters, 
and while he shivered in their chill em- 
brace he felt not only the divine strength 
that is born of sorrow but that tenderness 
which comes to the heart when a great 
grief has smitten it. So he did what six 
months before he could hardly have 
imagined himself as doing — took Peter 
Snyder's hand in a friendly grasp and 
said solemnly : 

"If the Lord has granted you forgive- 
ness, wmat am I, a mortal man, that I 
should withhold mine." 

But though Nelson forgave Peter Sny- 
der from his heart, and himself turned 
comforter to Martin Treworthy, he did 
not choose to send any word to Dora of 
her brother's death. He believed, and we 
must acknowledge he was not far out of 
the way, that Dora in her new relations 
had so far forgotten the old as not to care 
to be reminded of them, and furthermore 
would be far more likely to be ashamed 
of the fact that she had an imbecile 



brother, than to feel any special affliction 
at his loss. I am afraid he felt a little 
hard to Dora, perhaps harder than the 
real facts warranted. But among other 
indictments of the drink system, which 
standing by Tom's dead form he had 
vowed to battle heart and soul all his life 
through, he might have very truthfully 
brought this — that it had robbed him of a 
sister. 

Lmcle Zeb, who was, as we have be- 
fore said, the general news-carrier, casu- 
ally mentioned the next day "that the 
poor crazy chap he had hearn was dead, 
that had been picked up over to the east 
part." 

"It's wonderful now how that Peter 
Snyder is changed," he continued. "They 
say he took him in and sent for a doctor 
and cared for him like a brother o' mercy. 
And I wouldn't wonder if it was him 
that Dora saw tother morning asleep on 
the hay in the barn." 

Dora thought very likely it was, and 
she wished she had not been such a goose 
as to be frightened at the poor fellow. 
But beyond vague regrets Dora's reflec- 
tions on the matter did not go. 
(To be continued.) 



ARE THESE SECRET SOCIETIES? 

Families, Churches, Senates, Juries and 
Camps. 

Let us examine the apologies for the 
secret lodge system, of which Masonry 
is the mother and type. 

Its defenders are wont to say families, 
churches, senates, juries and camps have 
their secrets; and these justify the lodge. 

The answer is : Secret societies are 
not families or churches. The lodge is 
human ; the family and church, creations 
of God. They rest on the words of 
Christ, "What God hath joined let no 
man put asunder" ; and "This do in re- 
membrance of me." On the contrary, 
secret societies rest on art, and only ap- 
peal to God to enforce the contrivance 
and fealty to the clan. The first family 
was a church, and worshipped ; and the 
proper principle of both is love. The 
artificial motive of the lodge is terror. 
The family swears one man and one 
woman to love and keep to each other : 
the lodge binds a promiscuous body of 
men together by penalties and pains to 



January, 1922. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



279 



be enforced or inflicted by unknown 
hands. Wedlock begins and is perfected 
in love. The lodge commences, like 
prostitution, in a joke, is sanctioned by 
blasphemy, and ends in swindling and 
secret advantages. Therefore, to call a 
family a secret society, as many do, is 
to put the veiled sanctities and pure 
blandishments of a home on a level with 
the rollickings of a brothel, and confound 
the mercenary grimaces of a hunger- 
pinched harlot with the pure blushes of 
a bride. This is to mock God who made 
the family. 

Nor are lodges senates. True, to 
avoid peril, senates close their doors, as 
men lock their trunks when thieves are 
looking on. But the injunction of se- 
crecy is taken off when the peril is 
passed ; while the lodge demands con- 
cealment till death, seals the Mason's 
lips, and makes his silence perpetual. 

Again, secret societies are not juries. 
A jury is a band of independent men, 
sworn by their "verdict," or true word, 
to do justice to their equals and the 
equals of each other before the law ; 
being amenable to the independent God, 
who cannot be bribed, and, who will not 
bribe. The lodge is a body of superiors 
and inferiors, sworn to concealment, the 
upper from the lower, and all from the 
outside world; not to do justice, but to 
get and give secret advantages. And 
they are amenable to a "Master," who 
is amenable to a "Grand Master," who 
is amenable to a "Sovereign Grand Com- 
mander," each of whom is a frail, needy, 
and selfish man like themselves. 

True, the juryman during the trial 
must be shut from those whose silver 
might turn him into a Judas Iscariot. 
But the seclusion of the jury is not the 
secrecy of the lodge. If Barabbas is a 
Mason the lodge requires the jury to find 
for Barabbas and condemn Christ. 

Nor again, are lodges camps. "The 
Cincinnati" and the "Grand Army" were 
contrived after the fighting was done. 
Battles, it is true, must have their con- 
cealments. But the private exploits of 
the veteran become the stories of his 
children, while the secrecy imposed by 
lodges, brigands and banditti, are per- 
petual. 

Thus the lodge is neither family, 



church, senate, jury nor camp. It is a 
civil and religious fungus ; no more like 
the church or state than a wen or cancer 
is like the human body, which it disfig- 
ures and destroys. And to justify the 
sinister secrecy of Freemasonry from it^ 
semblance to the wholesome privacies of 
the household, church or state, is as 
illogical and irrational as to reason from 
the semblance of "proud flesh" to flesh 
in a healthy man, in order to prove that 
cancer is health. 



THE LODGE; AN ESTIMATE. 

REV. JAMES W. FIFIELD, D. D. 

I wish to set forth in a few words 
what may be the working creed of the 
average person on this matter of the 
lodge. I take it that there are a count- 
less number wishing to be sincere and 
know the truth. It is a sin to be a 
coward and not come up to the truth, to 
loiter along the road of the right, be- 
cause it will cost something to press into 
the real matter. 

Yet I believe that most people wish to 
be right. I believe that most people are 
brave. When a true position is seen 
they will take it and pay the cost of a 
noble conviction. I know that many 
good people belong to lodges and be- 
lieve in them. ** 

My Ideal for Children. 

Yet I belong to none, will unite with 
none, and have taken the care to place 
before my children the ideal of a life 
free from all lodge membership and as- 
sociation. I do not wish one of them to 
belong to any lodge of any kind. I love 
them and wish for them the best in every 
way. I am persuaded that the lodge is 
not the best. I admit that the lodge does 
some good, but I do not wish my children 
to join one. I often say to young men. 
"Do not enter the lodge, keep your life 
free and use your rime in another way." 

And why this? Why keep aloof from 
institutions so strong and which have 
gathered so many into their membership? 
Do not ministers belong to them and do 
ministers ever do anything which is not 
very helpful? I wish that they were al- 
ways helpful. Long ago I concluded not 
to do a thing just because some preacher 
did it. Preachers are usually good and 
helpful. Many preachers do not belong 



280 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



January, 1922. 



to lodges. Why not follow them? They 
have reasons. And certainly the man 
who stays out has no selfish reason for 
doing so. He does it because there are 
reasons why he does not wish to go in. 
A Position I Deem Reasonable and Right. 

Xow I will give some of mine. I can 
not in a few words argue them: I can 
only state them. They appeal to me. 
seem reasonable and right. I act upon 
them. 

The lodge wastes time. I have no 
time for its meetings. I have my life 
work to do. I want to be in my home. 
I wish to read and enter into the best 
that life offers. 

The lodge compromises one. There 
you are bound up with people who do 
not have your ideals. They can out- 
vote you and the lodge often does things 
which one seeking to be a Christian can 
not sanction." 

The lodge 'values are overestimated. 
Few tell me that the lodge is a real help 
to them. Men who have joined some 
lodge to gain business and build up a 
career (and I have the suspicion that 
not a few have such thoughts, possibly 
even a preacher now and then) find that 
they have overestimated what the lodge 
will do for them. And then there is 
always that feeling that it is not a very 
strong and noble way to do. It is an 
acknowledgment that one can not of 
himself make his way, lacks the ability 
or application and must resort to some 
scheme where "brotherhood" takes the 
place of worth and one has an unfair ad- 
vantage over his fellow men. The mo- 
tive of joining any lodge to gain the 
help of its members seems to be very 
low and unworthy. 

The lodge does not furnish the best. 
I am convinced that is true in every re- 
gard. It does not furnish the ideals, the 
stirrings of conscience, the way to a new 
life as does the church. The church is 
a better institution in every way, more 
worthy of time and money and personal 
effort. Even the lodges which have for 
their warrant the granting of life insur- 
ance, and for these I naturally feel 
kindly, yet here again I feel that one 
does not get the best. I believe in life 
insurance. I carry an insurance. I 
have looked it up and have sought cheap., 
safe insurance. I have found the cheap- 



est and best outside the lodge. The 
lodge is not the best for the use of time 
or money or effort. 

The lodge lacks adaptation. This is 
noticeable in many ways. It has a fixed 
ritual. That of itself is bad. You must 
do it one way. One sees the danger in 
funerals. I am a preacher and have at- 
tended many lodge funerals. If a lodge 
is to have a burial service there should 
be at least fifty varieties of it. I have 
listened to a beautiful service read over 
a drunken libertine, an open shame and 
a public disgrace. I do not remember 
one lodge funeral when I wished that I 
was a member of the lodge. 

The lodge sears the conscience. I 
think that this is true of many. There 
should be no religious services in any 
lodge more than an opening prayer. The 
atmosphere is not right for religion. It 
is foreign to its genius and plan. It 
sears the conscience and blurs the moral 
sight. I can not recall one person in all 
my acquaintance who ever, said that his 
lodge ever helped him to hate sin or told 
him the way to free his mind and spirit 
from the touch and stain of guilt. No, 
lodge religion confuses. It surfeits the 
nature with a substitute that is full of 
danger. It may help to a larger position 
in business or profession, afford many 
congenial gatherings, but it does not take 
the place of the church with the gospel 
of Christ. A man has grown blind to 
reality who permits the religion of any 
lodge to be the religion of his soul. 



The secret of being loved is being 
lovely, and the secret of being lovely is 
having the Christ spirit. 



To live, laugh, love one's friends and 
be loved by them is to bask in the real 
sunshine of life. Other things are in- 
cidental ; these are important. 



The life of the Christian is called in 
the Word of God the "Hidden Life." 
Their Redeemer is said to give them to 
eat of the ''Hidden Manna." 



None can accomplish anything great 
in this world who is contented with little 
— who is confident that he was made for 



little things. 



January, 1922. 



CHRISTIAN • CYNOSURE 



281 



THE LORD'S PRAYER 

Thou to the mercy seat our souls doth gather 

To do our duty unto Thee Cur Father; 

To whom all praise, all honor should be given ; 

For thou art the great God Who art in Heaven, 

Thou by Thy wisdom rul'st the world's whole frame ; 

Forever, therefore Hallowed be Thy name. 

Let nevermore delay divide us from 

Thy glorious grace, but let Thy Kingdom come, 

Let Thy commands opposed be by none ; 

But Thy good pleasure and Thy will be done. 

And let our promptness to obey be even 

The very same On earth as 'tis in Heaven ; 

Then for our souls, O Lord, we also pray. 

Thou would'st be pleased to Give us this day 

The food of life, wherewith our souls are fed 

Sufficient rament and Gur daily bread, 

With every needful thing do Thou relieve us. 

And of Thy mercy, pity And forgive us 

All our misdeeds for Him whom thou did'st please 

To make an offering for Gur trespasses, 

And for as much, O Lord, as we believe 

That Thou will pardon us As we forgive, 

Let that love teach, wherein thou dost acquaint us, 

To pardon all These who trespass against us, 

And though sometimes Thou find'st we have forgot 

This love for Thee, yet help And lead us not, 

Through soul or body's want to desperation. 

Xor let earth's gain drive us Into temptation. 

Let not the soul of any true believer 

Fall in the time of trial But deliver, 

Yea, save them, from the malice of the devil. 

And both in life and death, keep Us from evil. 

Thus pray we, Lord, for that of Thee, from whom 

This may be had For Thine is the Kingdom 

This world is of Thy work its wondrous story, 

To these belongs .'.The Power and the glory, 

And all thy wondrous works have ended never. 

But will remain forever and Forever, 

Thus we poor creatures would confess again. 

And thus would say eternally Amen. 

(The above beautiful composition was printed on heavy satin. July 1th. 1822. It was 
picked up at Corinth. Miss., the morning the Confederate forces evacuated it, May 30th, L862. I 



2S. 



CHRIST I AX CYNOSURE 



192. 



-CONQUEST OF THE GREEK CROSS." 

A minister of Huntington. Indiana, 
addressed the Knight Templar Masons 
who assembled in his church, and 
strangely accounted for their origin. 

His subject was '"The Conquest of the 
Cross." 

Tlie Herald reports his sermon as 
follows : 

"In his discourse he reviewed the his- 
tory of the early organization and pur- 
poses of the order of Knights Templar. 

"The first knights were the "poor 
soldiers of Solomon's temple* and orig- 
inated for the defense of the helpless 
and particularly to defend the pilgrims 
to Jerusalem, which had become a shrine 
for all Christians. 

"The knights took a vow of poverty, 
chastity, and great religious service. 
A"\ "hile the order originated to help the 
crusades, its subsequent object became 
the defense of the Christian faith and of 
the holy sepulchre against the Saracens. 
The last stand of the Crusaders was 
made on the island of Cyprus. A cross 
was cut on the wall of a small church. 
The speaker vividly portrayed the situ- 
ations of the great battles of the Cru- 
saders because of his personal visit to 
the scenes of these great struggles." 

Editorial Comment of the Christian 
Conservator. 

i. There were no Knight Templars 
while Solomon's temple stood, and no 
poor soldiers to protect or guard this 
temple, nor to defend the helpers. This 
is purely imaginary, and far from the 
fact. The temple of Solomon was de- 
stroyed hundreds of years before the 
Christian era. the temple of Zerubabel 
was built and destroyed and the temple 
of Herod was built and destroyed in 
A. D. 70. The Mosque of Omar was 
finished in A. D. 838; still there were 
no Knight Templars known on the 
earth. 

2. Jerusalem and the Holy Land was 
taken from the Turks in A. D. 1099. 
The crusaders got up the society of 
Knight Templars early in the twelfth 
century to protect against the Saracenes. 
But this order had not the least kinship 
to the degree of Knight Templar Ma- 
sons. Mackey in his lexicon of Masonry 
says of this original order: "In the be- 



ginning of the 14th century the avarice 
of Philip C. Bel and the weakness and 
perfidy of Pope Clement the V. con- 
>pired to give a blow to their order from 
which it never recovered." And the 
same author says that Philip the Fair of 
France secretly concerted with Pope 
Clement A', a plan for the destruction 
of this order." So it had no connection 
with modern Knight Templarism. 

3. It seems strange that soldiers of 
Solomon's temple protected Christian pil- 
grims long centuries before there were 
any Christians. 

Such men [as the Huntington minis- 
ter] make history like a spider spins its 
web — out of its own being regardless of 
the facts. 



In opening the festivities of the 
Grand Lodge of Massachusetts (1918). 

Grand Master L. M. Abbott, referred 
to the "two medical Brethren who had 
served in the West and South during the 
past year" saying: 

"I stand here as a living example of 
the efficiency of their professional skill. 
Coming from different schools of medi- 
cine, the prescription that was given me 
by the one was promptly followed by the 
antidotes furnished by the other. 
(Laughter). — Proceedings Grand Lodge 
Iowa, 1920. page 108. 



Jtetosi from Worker* 

REV. DR. OSTHOFF CLAIMS PRO- 
TECTION FROM UNCLE SAM. 

Xot long ago I received notice from 
Rev. E. C. Osthoff, of Oswego, Xew 
York, announcing that Rev. V. A. M. 
Mortensen. of Brooklyn, and himself 
were engaged in an effort to have me de- 
nied the use of the L nited States mails. 
The reason given being my anti-Masonic 
propaganda. Rev. Dr. Osthoff. evidently 
expects to continue his efforts so I take 
this opportunity to present to you his 
last letter. I have two or three others 
equally courteous and scholarly. This 
last letter came to me not in reply to a 
letter from me, but as a response to a 
few samples that I sent him of my last 
tract, "Masonry Versus Parochial 
Schools/' which he scratched over and 



Jam 






CHRIST IAX CYNOSURE 



• 



ieces and retnrnc :h the let- 
ter a copy of which folic 



St.] Lol 

Dr. E - istor 

- 

December 5th, 1 •_ 
B. M. Half 

." -::: 1 ,• 
Ir. re your dirt] 

shall be Iters 

or true - a ■:■ - - scpres- 
sioos your entii - j> - terri- 

. m-Ameri- 

that a d 1 1 g man - - [erate 

it 

I belie- - I are sted Mason on ins 

[ am sore : s : -called relig 

- ind I ; ■ .- • I etc 

---■' " ■ • - '■ - : - ' "■' ' ' ■ 

7:c: - - . | - - -_ j -.-- - 

mc ne '- '■ 

I - - rork as ever lee 

• ic :: : 

I hope n : t hear :r ::: any more : 
:rasr ir.c I kr. j-.-; o: this U. S 

:".'. protect me. 

Signed E T )sthoff. 



Mr. ] bas L T Id the gentlem in 

mentioned by Rev. Mr sth ff - 
grower and a member of the same Synod 
in which Rev. Dr - ff rlaims mem- 
bership. He is - - known to many 

rosui readers .::d has done : 

-:,/ se the I Ige J ^::: n in his 
5] nod and has contributed towards .. 
publish:::- : van is tracts setting : 
the uric':- In ::-.:: -r : ' ige 

ligion. The fact that Mr. Todd is 
Farmer" should I -::>urage him. 
nyone else, in doing es is 

righl re believe that Mr 7 

a right to spend his money in the mar 
in which he chooses without 
i n 
One th nght ; : ludes 
that is. how can a man that abuses the 
U- S. Mails g g >uch a 

letter as this one by Rev. Mr 
plead "pro: :he IT. 

-:al laws' ? 

B. M. Holt. 



WHEN FATHER RODE THE GOAT 
The boose is 

iter profound, 
: not darr ran bout. 
Or make - slightest s 
We leave the big piano s 

1 do not s :e — 

een here sever. I roes 
S " •? father - 



He ; 
Got in at i 

ren - - borne, 

Th : - broug 

His - g rip 

- 

:ne 
When rode the g 

I ■ resting 

- ..- 
And oth - 
He mutters pa reat 

- - . 
Wher 

gorg 

All g 

■ 

3 

\:'\ r rr.tr.: 
He wears a grim, 

r if he rod 
" r if the goat i im. 

— 



THE TWO WAYS CONTRASTED. 

By John S. White. 
This great at ad the sere 

rrowed £i L 
When Aai □ - the S :: ;: re - 
Lay - - riands : r. the g 

ties an - □ ; if esse 
sed it :: the 
T bear their sins :~ ;ir:. ; nnkn 
Vith tl - t stl - ; irgr 

Yet : r sinners « 

ts preached trom mountain and fr 

; :r. :'.:-; 
igs tc - I the sinner fr 

For rail free r :^:rtr:.: 
alk e g .. 
ting • tare 

For : - un 

ts and repi 

■ : 

g; has set 
To be zht 

to regi 
1 

Oh 

- 
s al seeming 

- 
High -p ; re. Penn. 



::iptible I 
in this little and contemptible world, a 
little religion is 1 



>84 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



January, 1922. 



AN APPRECIATION. 

BY REV. A. H. LEAMAN, ASSISTANT DIREC- 
TOR OF THE PRACTICAL WORK COURSE 
THE MOODY BIBLE INSTITUTE. 

I have been acquainted with the work 
of the National Christian Association for 
some time. I first heard of its work 
when I was a boy. Later when I took 
up the work of a minister and City Mis- 
sionary here in Chicago, I learned still 
more about it in a general way. 

My first indistinct or vague notion was 
that the Association occupied large office 
space in one of our large buildings in the 
center of Chicago. In my vision I saw 
many clerks at work and a large amount 
of literature pouring into the mails daily. 
Finally I visited the headquarters at 850 
West Madison Street and was a little dis- 
appointed at first. I saw a small office 
adjoining a larger one and a large stock 
and shipping room. The whole covering 
one-half of the first floor. I noticed a 
good library, well used and some very 
valuable books giving light on the sub- 
jects relative to the lodge question. 

I became much interested in the organ 
of the xA.ssociation known as the Chris- 
tian Cynosure, and became a regular 
reader of the same. I studied the articles 
as to their truthfulness and also studied 
the personnel of the writers. 

I attended the Annual Meetings and 
Conventions for several years and heard 
splendid addresses and also learned of the 
wide scope of the work. 

On several occasions I was invited to 
assist Mr. Phillips in getting out the 
Cynosure. Here I learned more fully 
the breath of the activities of the Asso- 
ciation and that the work is not measured 
by the size of the offices at headquarters 
nor by the number of workers employed. 

The Association is doing a founda- 
tional work. It gives out Bible truth 
along practical lines and directs thousands 
in the right way. It assists many pastors 
all over the world in the maintaining of 
the spiritual life of the young people by 
saving them from the lodges. It encour- 
ages men, who are standing for the truth 
where the Devil rages. It stands for the 
helping of men, who through the knowl- 
edge obtained from the teaching of the 
Word have left the Lodge and desire 
knowledge to help them in the fight. 



The Christian Cynosure has a place 
in the religious world equally with other 
religious magazines and deserves to be 
supported by all of the Christian denom- 
inations. It stands alone in the extent of 
its clear gospel messages that gives light 
on the lodge questions. Pastors ought 
to try to get it going into the homes of 
the whole parish and into every public 
reading room that people may have a 
chance to read it. Fathers ought to place 
it on the table to be read by every member 
of the household. College professors 
ought to place it before the young men 
in the College and Seminary. It has an 
important place among church literature. 

The work of the Association needs the 
prayers and help of all Christian people, 
as well as on the other hand Christian 
people need the help of the Association. 
Forth from its offices go tracts, booklets 
and books of no small value and for 
which the Association must pay. It is 
sending free tracts to thousands of min- 
isters and is seeking to bear its testimony 
for Christ Jesus, who "in secret said 
nothing" to every minister of every de- 
nomination in this country. Let us lend 
a hand and make an offering this year 
for the Tract Fund and for the support 
of the Agents of the Association. 

I am heartily in sympathy with this 
work. It is a work that ought to receive 
a more liberal support. My own de- 
nomination, Mennonites, stands for the 
truth on the lodge question and should 
learn more fully how the Association can 
help them. 



EASTERN SECRETARY'S REPORT. 

BY REV. W. B. STODDARD. 

My report this time is sent from Allen- 
town, Pennsylvania, on the Philadelphia 
district. As usual I find much to encour- 
age. To be sure the Owls are holding 
dances in their "nests" and hooting as at 
other times. Since their "Supreme" 
hooter has been convicted under the 
Mann Act and caged in the penitentiary 
at Leavenworth, Kansas, (sentenced for 
five years) one might think they would 
be a little modest in their claim to "pro- 
tect" women and children. I note their 
nests appear as heretofore. 

Judging from reports taking many 
columns in the Philadelphia Ledger and 



January, 1922. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



285 



other papers the Ku-Klux Klan still has 
the center of the stage in lodgedom. 
Their troubles appear to be multiplied, 
and multiplying. Their "Goblins" are 
acting as would be expected, and the 
Chief "Wizard" has gone to the moun- 
tains in search of health. Edicts ''firing" 
some of the Goblins are issued with 
promise that lawsuits will follow. F. W . 
Atkin, "Grand Goblin" for the Philadel- 
phia district, reports his intention to leave 
the old lodge and start a new one. The 
paper reports him as saying there will be 
lots of money contributed for this pur- 
pose. The holiday season is conducive of 
hilarity. The Elks, Moose and others of 
the animal lodges are always found act- 
ing in accord with their nature at such 
times. 

I find revival meetings in progress in 
many of the friendly churches, and their 
expressions of goodwill toward the Na- 
tional Christian Association work- are not 
few. When the love of the Lord Christ 
warms the heart the love of lodge doings 
naturally departs. "There's a difference" 
as the sign reads. 

Following my last report from the 
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, district I spent 
a very pleasant Sabbath at Yandergrift, 
Pennsylvania, ministering to the Free 
Methodist congregation of that city. A 
Con-ference of Ohio Synod Lutheran pas- 
tors at Knoxville, Pittsburgh, gave op- 
portunity for anti-lodge discussion and 
securing of Cynosure subscriptions. 

After the brief visit with the loved 
at home I spent a week in the "brotherly 
love" city and found opportunity to min- 
ister on Sabbath to the young people's 
society of the First Church of the 
Brethren, Carlisle and Dauphine Streets, 
also the First Free Methodist church. 
There were the usual Bible study and 
prayer meeting opportunities during the 
week. I was at the prayer meeting in 
the Third Church of the Covenanters 
and hope to respond to an invitation to 
address their young people's society next 
Sabbath afternoon. There is an invita- 
tion to supply the pulpit for the Brethren 
Church, ioth and Duphin Streets, Phila- 
delphia, morning and evening, next Sab- 
bath. A Missouri Lutheran church on 
Richmond Street, that city, invites my 
chart talk for their young people on Tues- 
day evening next. My service last Sab- 



bath was divided between the Mennonite 
Church of Spring City, Pennsylvania, 
and what is known as the East Coventry 
Church of the Brethren, near Pottstown, 
Pennsylvania. Meetings were well at- 
tended. Since reaching this city I have 
spoken in meetings connected with the 
International Holiness Association and 
the Free Methodist Church. 

It was my good privilege to be pres- 
ent at an address given by Dr. J. A. W. 
Haas, President of Muhlenberg College, 
before a meeting of business men of this 
city who paid seventy-five cents each for 
the'ir lunch at the Y. M. C. A. that they 
might hear the Doctor. He is delivering 
a series of lectures on important things 
pertaining to Democracy. His theme for 
this occasion being the democracy of love. 
That the subject was ably discussed goes 
without saying. Love is the cement that 
binds, if we hold together. The compe- 
tition in business naturally leads to strife. 
Those continually standing for what they 
term "their rights" will have strife. A 
kindly feeling is needed toward all. The 
problems of the black, yellow, Italian and 
other races having homes with the Cau- 
casians naturally came in for considera- 
tion. The law of love as set forth in 
First Corinthians, thirteenth chapter, was 
applied. It is scarcely necessary to add 
that a man having the breadth of vision 
manifest in the Doctor's address would 
be opposed to the lodges having the nar- 
row idea of helping only those able to do 
for themselves. "Love suffereth long, 
and is kind." The lodge contracts and is 
.selfish. 

I was glad to get the report made be- 
fore the Joint Synod of Ohio Lutherans 
by our good standby, Rev. E. Cronewett 
of Butler, Pennsylvania, who has minis- 
tered to that church for fifty-three years 
and is still greatly loved by those to whom 
he has ministered. His uncompromising 
attitude in opposition to the lodges is 
well known. His service to his church 
has been very great as shown by his con- 
denced report. May God bless him and 
all the faithful. 

1 am now starting for Souderton. 
where I found unusual opportunities for 
service with our Mennonite friends last 
year. My visit must be brief as I hasten 
to the Philadelphia appointments and re- 



286 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



January. 1922. 



turn home for the holiday season. 

Let us be faithful in sowing the gospel 
seed. The great harvest is not far dis- 
tant. We are crying ''Peace, Peace," but 
as long as sin rules there can be no peace. 
The democracy of love would remove all 
the ferood of darkness-loving institutions 
that prey upon the human race. Yours 
for the light and Peace that is to come. 



LODGE MEMBERS NOT RECEIVED. 

One Pastorate of Forty-three Years. 

Butler, Pa.. Dec. 9.— The Rev. E. 
Crone wett, pastor of St. Mark's German 
Lutheran Church here for more than 
forty-three years, has completed what his 
associates in the Joint Synod of Ohio, of 
which he has been a member for fifty- 
eight years, consider a remarkable record. 
Since his ordination in 1863 the Rev. 
Cronewett has delivered 8,762 sermons, 
baptized 2,106 persons, confirmed 1,420, 
officiated at 694 marriages and been the 
minister at 690 burial services. 



"LIZZIE WOODS' LETTER." 

Dear Cynosure : 

I am in the smoky city of Memphis 
at the annual meeting of the Church of 
God in Christ. We come together for 
twenty days every year to thank God for 
His goodness to us ; to pray for all men 
in authority ; to transact business for the 
church ; to teach our people how to have 
peace on earth ; to teach them to fear 
God; to keep out of the unions and 
lodges of all kinds ; to keep out of race 
riots ; to live in peace — that is to let Jesus 
into their hearts. We are having a great 
soul feast here. Many able men are 
visiting this meeting and teaching and 
exhorting us to live this present life for 
Jesus. We have preachers and teachers 
of various denominations, white and 
colored, to show us how we ourselves 
are to have peace, while the great peace 
conferente is going on in Washington. 
I will tell about this meeting at Memphis 
in my next, after it closes, and also of 
my experience here with lodge men 

I left Chicago the tenth of October 
and went home to Omaha, Nebraska, to 
hold a meeting at the Morning Star Bap- 
tist Church. I taught Bible lessons' for 
ten days or more. The pastor said to me 
one night, "Sister Roberson, your les- 
sons are weighing all of us Christian 



folks in the balance and finding us want- 
ing." Then he said, "I thought you were 
going to get after the sinners." I 
answered, "You are right, that is just 
what God's Word is doing. The man 
that is in the church and sinning is the 
leading sinner. If we cannot stop the 
leading sinner, how is the poor sinner 
that never knew Jesus going to get to 
Him? If Christian stands in the gate 
and will not enter but keeps the poor 
worldly sinner out so that he cannot see 
Jesus — why of course we must preach 
to the church sinner and get him out of 
the way. If church members are in the 
lodges and drinking booze, chewing to- 
bacco, dipping snuff and not paying their 
debts what more could a worldly sinner 
do than that?" I said, "Brother, the old 
church has got to come back to the old 
landmarks before we can do the world 
any good." 

This poor minister was in the lodge and 
so were most of his members. Two 
women went to the altar and confessed 
their sins and gave up their lodges. They 
said, "Sister Roberson, we have given up 
all. We have put all our sins on Jesus. 
We have given up the lodge also." Well, 
we wept and cried for joy to see how the 
Word of the Lord took hold of these 
honest hearts. Some of them said in 
their testimony, "We would have lived 
better had we known better." 

We left many desiring better things in 
that little church. God bless all the read- 
ers of the Cynosure. 

Lizzie W. Roberson. 



SOUTHERN AGENT'S REPORT. 

BY REV. F. J. DAVIDSON. 

I have not been able to do very much 
since my last letter. I have not been 
well, yet I have preached ten sermons 
and delivered eight lectures. I have at- 
tended three ministers' meetings. I have 
been unable to meet several engagements 
on account of not beinjg well. Mrs. 
Elizabeth Hunter desires to write some 
of her experiences to the Cynosure as 
an independent missionary. She also de- 
sires to hear personally from some of the 
Cynosure family. She is a young con- 
vert to N. C. A. principles. Write her 
in my care, 624 Delery Street, New Or- 
leans, Louisiana. I am striving hard with 
my little flock to erect a small house on 



Tamiary,« 1922. 



CHRISTIAN CYNOSURE 



287 



the church property for a parsonage. The 
secret lodge element is still bitterly oppos- 
ing my every effort to build an anti-lodge 
church here. Prav for me. 



Mr. J. W. Elliott of Shelby. Ohio, 
writes : "As for secret or oath-bound or- 
ganizations Masonry is the chief evil. 
May the day soon come when some so- 
ciety or organization will smite the evil 
so that it will never recover. The whole 
secret society system is a deception — a 
bribe." 



Ira L. Deal., singing evangelist. Water- 
loo, Iowa, writes : "May God bless you 
in your work. I am doing what I can to 
warn men and women about the menace 
of the lodge. For the life of me I cannot 
understand how a pastor or any Christian, 
well versed in the Word of God. could 
join one of them. Pray for me. I have 
spoken about it here and a few have 
already come out from among them. 
Praise the Lord.'' 



The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago 
announces its Annual Founders Week 
Conference to be held February I to 5 
inclusive, with a strong program of Bible 
teaching, inspirational addresses and 
group meetings for prayer and considera- 
tion of present day problems. 

REMINISCENCES. 

"'That which ye have spoken in the ear in 
closets shall be proclaimed upon the house- 
tops" (Luke 12:3). 

Freemasonry lays claims to great sec- 
rets. Its votaries are sworn to keep in- 
violate all that shall be made known to 
them and many believe this is true that 
none can know their secrets ( ?) but those 
who have become members. 

Jesus told us that there is nothing hid 
that shall not be made known. 

Edmond Ronayne gave an exposition 
of the Third or Master Mason's degree 
initiating a candidate on the stage in the 
new Opera House of Waverly. Iowa, in 
1878 or 79 — just as he had often done in 
the lodge (Keystone 639. Chicago) as 
their Worshipful Master. The house was 
packed to its capacity, largely filled with 
Masons. 

From Waverly he went to Marshall - 
town where he exemplified the three de- 



grees to a crowded house in a large hall. 
While giving the Third Degree some 
miscreant opened a gas fixture or pipe 
and rilled the basement with gas which 
endangered the >afety of the hall and the 
audience. Then came true the words of 
Jesus — boys on the streets shouted in the 
street the secret word. "Mah-hah-bone" 
— that can "only be given on the five 
points of fellowship — foot to foot, knee 
to knee, breast to breast, hand to back, 
mouth to ear" and only in a whisper by 
a Mason. 

What better is the Masonic order than 
the Ku-Klux Klan, the Blackhand or the 
Mafia when they murder men and en- 
danger whole audiences simply because 
their work and character is in danger of 
being exposed? And why is Freema- 
sonry a secret society? If it is as 
good as some claim — why is it secret ? 
I think I can tell you why, but our Lord 
can tell it better and he has said. "And 
this is the condemnation that light is c